


hold to a vow

by KeanBlade



Series: Kindling on fire [5]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Healthy Communication, Healthy Relationships, Multi, Sort Of, Soulmates, Worldbuilding, doesn't fix everything, eventually, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:53:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 40,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25596835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeanBlade/pseuds/KeanBlade
Summary: A Geas can be compared with a curse or, paradoxically, a gift. If someone under a Geas violates the associated taboo, the infractor will suffer dishonor or even death. On the other hand, the observing of one's Geas is believed to bring power.
Relationships: Senju Hashirama & Uchiha Madara, Senju Tobirama/Uchiha Madara, Uchiha Izuna & Uchiha Madara
Series: Kindling on fire [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1531886
Comments: 184
Kudos: 406





	1. Geas

Tobirama swore desperately, falling to his knees next to Madara on the asphalt, ignoring the painful bite through his torn jeans. Madara was unconscious already and even as Tobirama set the phone on speaker and dropped it next to Madara he knew he was running out of time; fuck it had been a long time since Tobirama had done CPR on someone, he had to hope was that even if half remembered and out of date it would still be enough to save the older man. Madara probably would rather die than have Tobirama touch him after what had happened but there was no way the albino was going to let the Uchiha _die_ ; no matter how bad things had been at the end he had never stopped loving Madara (was never going to, the words along the line of his spine were a promise of that). Over the beat of his pounding heart Tobirama heard Madara’s ribs creak and tried to ignore it, he knew CPR done right broke ribs but the idea of feeling Madara’s bones snap under his hands made him feel sick; the phone cracked and a sharp voice echoed out “An ambulance is on the way, just hold on” the 911 operator said and Tobirama gasped, throwing his weight behind the chest compressions and gagging as he felt the older man’s ribs give out under the pressure, bile bitter on his tongue.

“Are you there?” the operator asked and Tobirama struggled to speak around the tightness in his throat “Yeah” he gasped “his ribs just broke” he told the woman on the other end of the phone wetly “Good, you’re doing a good job, just keep it up a bit longer” she said soothingly and Tobirama forced himself to focus on her voice and his heartbeat and not how still Madara was or how his chest felt (god humans weren’t _supposed_ to be squishy like this). The sound of sirens came from a long way away but it was the sudden appearance of hands next his and a hand on his shoulder that jarred him out of his focus “Hey, it’s ok, we got him now” the paramedic said, pulling firmly until Tobirama fell back, scrambling away to give them enough space to work. They were here, Madara would be ok, it was going to be ok. He looked though blurry eyes at the paramedic, glancing around for the police he knew would be near. He needed to leave. He didn’t know anything useful, he needed to _leave_ before one of the officers recognized him (he didn’t want to leave Madara, didn’t want to stand up, wanted to curl in a corner and try to _calm down_ ).

Shaking Tobirama pushed himself to his feet, leaning against the dirty wall behind him and making sure he was unwatched (he might be stupid pale but he had long experience in making himself unnoticeable) before jumping and catching the bottom of the fire escape, pulling himself up in a smooth motion (not to fast, that would attract attention, fast movements meant something trying not to be seen, slow on the other hand…what fleeing person would move slowly?) and fading back into the shadow, taking one last look at Madara as he was loaded into the ambulance and the doors were shut behind him (doors between Tobirama and Madara were always shut); Madara would probably survive, his Geas would save him (it _had_ to, Tobirama wouldn’t live in a world where it didn’t) and that was what mattered. It was time for Tobirama to get out of here, get as far away as he could; someone would give the description of what he looked like and then the entire Vow Core would be after him, every Uchiha capable of serving and in possession of a Geas after his blood – just like they had been five years ago.

* * *

Madara woke slowly, his chest a dull ache on the other side of the pain killers. He blinked at the blurry ceiling, distantly confused; he wasn’t dead? He should be dead. He was _sure_ he should be dead. The Gold Brother had slammed his fist into Madara’s chest, he was sure of it and that was a death sentence – after all that was the only reason that the Gold Brother had left him dying on the ground, he had _known_ that Madara couldn’t survive that strike (Madara knew Madara couldn’t survive that strike, Geas helped healing or not). “-ara? Madara? Brother?” Izuna’s voice swam in his ears and he struggled to focus, turning his head with difficulty to look at his baby brother; “’zuna?” Madara rasped and Izuna laughed wetly. “Hey stupid” He sniffed “you’ve been out for a week, Kuro was here yesterday but she was called away when you stabilized” Madara blinked slowly at his brother (Izuna was far to good at telling Madara what he needed to hear when he woke up in the hospital, they had to much practice with this) trying to focus on Izuna’s face, looking for the guilt he knew would be there.

Izuna had never stopped feeling guilty, not after the accident that left him with a cane and prosthetic and unable to serve the Vow Core in the streets (not after he had left Madara with a Geas strained to the limit – almost but not quite violated and vulnerable for it (( _ ~~Tobira~~_ ))) and every time Madara got hurt Izuna beat himself up for months. “Not on you” Madara slurred, fuck this hurt, this was probably the worst shape he had been in in years but…”How ‘m I not dead?” Izuna bit his lip “I don’t know, someone found you and started CPR and they knew what they were doing, busted your ribs and everything” Madara’s eyebrows went up sluggishly, someone strong enough to break Uchiha bones was rare “Still shouldn’ have been ‘nough” he said with a sluggish tongue. Izuna nodded, “I know” he hesitated “your Geas…” Madara frowned, reaching for the power and feeling the mark light in his eye as he did so; Izuna was right, there was something different, something…it didn’t feel as strained as it used too and the stress on his body was much less. “What?” his head hurt, his Geas hadn’t been right ever since he – _~~Tobira~~_ – but now it felt, well, not fixed or whole but better than it had in five years.

Izuna touched his shoulder, bringing his attention to his brother and the Geas in Izuna’s eyes (he was lucky his Geas was versatile enough to be useful in a support position in the Vow Core, Madara’s had only ever been good for attacking- _not true, once there had been something else- no.-_ and he would be no good in support) as the younger brother checked over Madara and the lines of power in his bones and blood; “You should be able to get out on here in a week and be able to come in, maybe work in Headquarters for a week or two, before you can go back out. It depends on what your Geas does.” Izuna said. Madara grimaced, _weeks_ on the sidelines, fuck he hated that. But it was better than it could have been and frankly after the last few years he was just grateful it would take as little time as it would; his impatience had been tempered over the years (too little too late, _~~Tobira-~~_ ) and he would bear this with as much as he could. “Get out of here Izu” he said, Izuna bit his lip but under Madara’s steady stare his shoulders sagged and he sighed, nodding quietly to the ground; six years ago- hell four years ago- Izuna would never have listened so easily but, ha, things changed, people changed and Madara was just glad their relationship was as good as it was, there had been a time when he couldn’t even look at his brother. Forgiveness had always been hard for Madara and though he had forgiven Izuna as much as he would ever be able to he would never be able to forgive himself (things would never have gone that far if Madara had been a bit more patient, a bit less hotheaded, if Madara had done things a bit better maybe…ah well, regrets were an old companion).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somehow this turned into soulmates/police/superheros (with Tobirama as catwoman but not) when it was supposed to just be CPR cliche...
> 
> Disclaimer: I write fast and don't edit much- this is a place for me to not have to worry too much about perfection and just enjoy it- so things can be mangled at times. (I've got a wonky brain that can't see symbols as well, so I frequently can't even see mistakes) That's not something that's likely to change any time soon, so if imperfect writing puts you off this probably isn't for you


	2. oath

Tobirama faded back into the shadows behind the dumpster, the dark gray shades of his close fitting clothes ( _not_ a catsuit, _really,_ it wasn’t Guðrún) helping him fade back, especially with his distinctive white hair hidden under a hood and shadowing his face, and ok, maybe if he was caught the clothes would be a dead giveaway of what he was but he had to get to work after this; taking the time to check and see if Madara was allowed to leave the hospital was a bad idea even if it didn’t make him late. He flinched back a bit farther as voices passed closer the ally he was hiding in and entered the hospital holding his breath as voices slipped out, sorting through the sounds “-Vow-“ “-ER, code-“ “-I said-” no wait, go back “-Core. Major Uchiha checked out – but he said they’ll be keeping an eye on things –” _fuck_ , Tobirama threw himself back farther into the shadows and jumped to catch a hold on the old brick. Swearing to himself Tobirama scaled the wall as fast as he could; _of course_ they would be keeping an eye out for him, maybe no Vow Core had been on the scene when they found Madara but how many albinos were there running around? They had to know who he was, _especially_ if anyone got a look at the tattoos on his face. It…hurt, a little, to know that Madara was still angry enough to want to hunt him down like this (especially given that the Vow Core didn’t know about his…job), Tobirama had sort of hoped- though he hadn’t realized it- that in time Madara’s anger would fade and his soulmate might some day forgive him but if the Core was still so dead set on finding him that looked unlikely (it had never been, likely, not when it was Tobirama’s fault that Izuna would never walk without assistance).

The only good thing was that the Gold brother had left town for now to meet up with his brother in Suna, they would be back and something would have to be done (especially if the negotiations with the Shimura family panned out and the two men had the full strength of a mafia family behind them. Tobirama just hoped that the negotiations fell apart, his sources said there was still room for things to go wrong and he was just going to keep his fingers crossed for that (and maybe nudge anything he could to destabilize things). The dark city scape stretched around him as he slipped through the brick buildings of the poorer side of Konoha, and the albino drew in a deep breath, focusing his mind; he had work to do tonight and his sometime-partner wouldn’t be impressed if he couldn’t focus (Guðrún had little patience for things like that). “You’re late” the Hatake called as he rounded the water tower on the old apartment block, the loud noise of partying tenants enough to keep listeners anywhere but next to them from understanding their words; “I had something to check in on” Tobirama told her, shoving the hood back off his face and blinking in the sudden moonlight.

Guðrún examined him for a moment and let out a tired breath, “I heard that the Gold brother got into some trouble before he took off” she said. Tobirama looked away and bit back a sigh of his own; Guðrún was related to him- if distantly- on his mother’s side and for that Tobirama knew she wouldn’t betray his confidence – well, not without good reason (what she would consider a good reason was still up in the air though) “Do you really have to ask?” he said softly. Guðrún shook her head and let it go with almost visible exasperation, “Is it going to be a problem if there’s people looking for you?” she asked, “No, I don’t think so, they’ll be watching any place they think they can find me but I haven’t seen anyone in a long time – they don’t know where to look for me. Besides, I don’t intend to get seen” he reassured her. Guðrún grinned sharply, “Shall we then?” she growled, dropping into a crouch and leaning out like a wolf on the hunt as Tobirama slipped behind her like a shadow after lightning.

* * *

Madara frowned down at the papers on his desk, confused by the guard requests on it waiting for his approval; why were the Core watching the Hospital still? They knew who had attacked him, what else was there to know? They should be spending time looking for the Gold and Silver brothers, not watching a hospital he wasn’t in. “Izuna!” he called out the office, waiting impatiently for his brother and Lt. Quartermaster to come in, Izuna was the one that had been requesting the guard after all; “What’s up Madara?” the younger man asked as he slipped into the office, glancing at the halfway closed blinds on the two glass sides. “Izuna why did you want a watch set on the hospital?” Madara asked, rubbing at his aching head and wishing he could make his office dimmer without worrying his officers; Izuna hesitated, a strangely hesitant look on his face “I- Madara I- I know we should have run it past you but I didn’t want to do anything until I had something to tell you” Izuna’s hands were twisting on his cane as Madara’s eye sharpened “Izuna. What’s going on?” “I- you know how someone was giving you CPR when the ambulance came? Someone saved you right? It- I didn’t think much of it until I got the officers written report and- Madara- Madara, he was described as young, tall, slim, and- and albino”

There was a roaring sound in Madara’s ears, and it felt the world had gone out from under him; “Albino” he whispered, staring blankly, at the window. Izuna shifted on his feet, “That’s what it said” he murmured and Madara forced his frozen lungs to take in air “Are- did they get anything else?” he force out past the lump in his throat. Izuna shook his head “No, they didn’t think to look more carefully they were more worried about you. He was keeping you alive when they got there and the EMT said that he only stopped when they pulled him back but otherwise no one tried to get a better look. He vanished while they were distracted, but then later your Geas was doing better and…” Izuna’s voice shook a little but not as much as Madara’s hands where he had them pressed against the desk. It, albino, young, tall, slim, helping Madara, _albino_ , it- it _had_ to be, fuck, it had to be Tobira (it felt almost like a betrayal to even think his soulmate's name after everything, after what had happened Madara didn’t have the right to anything with Tobira anymore but…) didn’t it? Tobira had found him, had saved him, had wanted him to be ok. “Why are you keeping a watch on the hospital? If you’re still trying to catch him out-“ Madara said, “ _NO_ , no Mada, I’m not. ‘m not trying to do anything with him, or catch him, or set him up for something, Madara I just wanted to try and catch him and, apologize I guess. Tell him he should talk to you “ Madara stared at his shamefaced brother, not even a little sure what to think; Izuna ducked his head farther, all but mumbling “I know you miss him, I just wanted to help”.

Madara dropped his head down and pulled in a tight breath, “Take the watch off the hospital, that’ll just make him think that he’s in trouble like last time. Gods Izu’ did you really think that you would catch Tobirama? Just…leave him alone. He might not have even been the person that saved me” Izuna drew in a shaking breath and Madara saw him nod out of the corner of his eyes before the younger Uchiha slipped out of the room. Slowly Madara closed his eyes, feeling out the pattern of his Geas burning in him just as it had ever since Madara (almost) broke his Geas vow; maybe it was better now, it was hard to say, and even if it was that didn’t necessarily mean that Tobirama would ever think of talking with Madara again. Fuck, he had work to do, the Gold and Silver brother were still out there and the Shimura family had been growing bold as of late – not to mention that Hashirama and Mito were trying to get ahold of black Zetsu and pin him down for his crimes; Madara had too much on his plate to sit and pine after a man he hadn’t seen in five years, no matter how much he wanted too (no matter how much Madara missed him).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somehow this turned into soulmates/police/superheros (with Tobirama as catwoman but not) when it was supposed to just be CPR cliche...


	3. curse

Tobirama ducked under the swinging arm and kicked up hard and fast, the heel of his foot connecting with the ribcage of the woman as her knife missed him by inches; a low twist put him out of the way before throwing himself up and over the swinging arm of another man. Across the room Guðrún was laughing like a maniac as she tore through their opponents, Tobirama only barely contained his grimace at the spray of blood, Guðrún had never been the most…clean of fighters unlike Tobirama who preferred to leave the blood _inside_ his enemies if possible – it was so hard to get out of clothing, but then again that was why she always wore dark, _dark_ red. Another knife slipped past his cheek, grazing it right below the red tattooed scars and Tobirama bit back a curse, he needed to _focus_ , his attention had been far too scattered ever since…(Madara) and he needed to get his head in the game. With renewed viciousness he went after the suited men and women around him, he wanted this fiasco over; Tobirama had been able to avoid a show down with the Shimura and keep out of their way but it had only been a matter of time before he came into conflict (Tobirama grimaced as blood sprayed into his leg casting an annoyed glance at Guðrún and her blood soaked side of the room – he used knives as well but _he_ kept it clean) with them and went after something they wanted; he could have negotiated with them, they would have liked him on their payrole but there was _no way_ that Tobirama was ever going to do anything that would put Madara and the Uchiha in danger.

The albino swung his karambit across the last man’s throat in a clean slice ( _see_ he didn’t need to make a mess to kill someone _Guðrún_ ) watching as the man slumped to the floor with a dull thud; Tobirama’s lip pulled back in a disdainful sneer, what a mess. “Did you really have to do it like that cousin?” he asked, picking his way across the room trying to avoid the worst of the mess; the woman laughed roughly, “Oh don’t be like that Ghost. Or do you prefer Thunder God?” Tobirama grimaced and looked a way, he hated those foolish names, couldn’t the Uchiha have come up with better names for his him!? Talk about over dramatic names, that was Uchiha for you though. “Let it go _Red Wolf_ ” he snipped back, she rolled her eyes “Get over it Tobirama, making a mess means it will be a lot harder for the police or Core to track anything from this – can you imagine finding anything in this mess?” the albino looked around and had to give it to her, hiding any clues to them would be impossible in the blood soaked room; well, it would be very easy for them to tell that the Red Wolf had been here, this sort of mess was her calling card but they would probably not be able to tell that Tobirama had been there (and maybe that was the point, Guðrún was hard to read but it wouldn’t be that shocking, she was family no matter how tough her love).

He sighed and picked up the dropped hard drive turning it over in his hands and glad of his gloves as he pealed a bit of some unidentified organ of the hard casing “You’ll take it and clean it up? Get what we need?” Guðrún asked and Tobirama nodded, tucking it away in his pocket. He would take it to his lair and clean it up, make sure that there was nothing on it that could incriminate either of them or put the Uchiha in danger; god he was a soft touch for them. On the other hand his checking over everything before it was turned over has saved at least a few of them over the years and he could play it off as looking after his own skin; being part of anything that could be traced back to him would _definitely_ put him in danger and all criminals understood looking out for your own skin. Tobirama nodded at Guðrún and saluted her as he slipped out of the building by way of the rope dropped from the upper window, maybe Guðrún had a point about his obsession with high places…he just always preferred to go up if he could and most people didn’t look up when they entered rooms which was a definite advantage. Tobirama shook his head a little as he pulled himself out of the building, the night air a comforting brush on his skin as he left the museum and blood soaked room behind; god he was tired, he shouldn’t be this weary, all he had been doing was one small heist- not even a hard one- and time was that he could run a good three in a day and be fine. But that was back when he was – when things were different and the words, the most important words Madara had ever said- would ever say- to him weren’t a barely healed burn on his back.

His lair (called that because he could never bring himself to call it home and it was more of a work space anyway) was undisturbed and all the traps were set the way they had been when he left; probably he was still safe here (thank heavens, he didn’t want to move, it was _such a pain_ to have to move all his tech when his location was compromised). Tobirama dropped into the large squishy chair- the most expensive thing that he owned other than the tech- and stared at the large screens for a long moment, glancing at the screen devoted to the cameras around his lair and watching the blank screen; it wasn’t like it was going to change, no one visited him here, Guðrún might know where he lived but even if she had she had never come to see him – not a _bad_ thing but just…whatever. It didn’t matter. Giving himself a good shake the albino plugged the hard drive into the computer and then shoved himself out of the chair as he waited for the info to load. The computer dinged slightly just as he was yanking on ragged sweat pants and a too large sweatshirt (he should really throw it away, keeping Madara’s Core sweatshirt was probably creepy especially after five years) and Tobirama dragged his hand through his hair; time to get to work, he was on deadline.

* * *

Madara _wasn’t_ pouting, he wasn’t. That would be below him, he just…didn’t know what to do, everything in him screamed out to be hitting the streets looking for his missing soulmate but if Tobirama was still around and had never shown himself before he probably didn’t _want_ to see Madara again (and Madara couldn’t blame him for that). On the other hand…”Major?” a soft voice asked from the door and Madara looked up at Kuro standing in the doorway hip cocked and a impassive look on her delicate face, “You know I hate it when you call me that Kuro” he grumbled at his sister and she laughed as she walked farther into the room. “Izuna told me what happened, about Tobirama” she said as she dropped into the chair across form him “he said that you’ve refused to do anything about it” Madara grimaced, “Come on Kuro, he’s never indicated that he wants to see me in all this time. I don’t want him to feel hunted, I should just let him…-“ Kuro’s eyebrows flew up “ _Really_ Mada? Really? and who was it that said they never wanted to see him again? As I recall it was _you_ who left him with hard words-“ “He said-“ “Oh come off it, of course he said somethings he shouldn’t have, it’s _Tobirama_ , he’s never been one not to fight back. But it was you that started it and banished him from your life, ‘You mean nothing to me, whatever we were to each other is dead’ that’s what you said isn’t it?”

Madara swallowed hard, the fragmented look on Tobirama’s face as he said the cruel words flashing through his mind. “What do you want Kuro?” he asked lowly, she sighed and sat forward, reaching to touch his hand even as he slipped it off the desk “Madara, I’m just saying that he saved your life, that he’s your soulmate, don’t you think that it would be worth _trying?_ He not going to reach out, first not after everything. I think you owe it to him to swallow your pride and _try_.” Kuro said softly. Madara tipped his head back against the chair, staring up at the celling; Kuro was right, he was a different man in some ways now, less proud, more ready to humble himself for those he loved, “Maybe you’re right. I – I don’t know where to start Kuro” he murmured. Kuro smiled brightly “Just keep your eyes open brother, keep your eyes open for the shadows and don’t forget to look up – you remember how much he liked high places” Madara’s eyes narrowed on her “And is that a sister’s advice or a nudge from your Geas?” he asked narrowly, Kuro’s face went thoughtful “I’m not sure, I…a bit of both?” she said. Madara nodded, even without the backing of her Geas Kuro’s advice wasn’t to be ignored.

He nodded to her and turned back to his work as Kuro slipped out of the room; whatever happened with Tobirama he still had to keep an eye on the Shimura- they were up to something he just _knew_ it- and the Gold and Silver brothers were headed back this way and Madara had no intention of being caught by surprise again (never mind that if he could make things right between himself and Tobirama it would probably repair Geas somewhat and that might just be what he needed to insure the brothers weren’t a threat). Several hours and reams of paperwork later the ringing of his phone startled him out of his concentration; Madara turned to the phone with a grimace as he saw the caller, fucking Hashirama. “What do you want?” he snapped into the phone, Hashirama wailed dramatically launching into a overwrought rant about how Madara didn’t love him as the Uchiha tuned him out, waiting for the moment that the Senju’s voice changed and indicated that he was finally done with his fit; “Madara, have you heard about the brothers returning? They passed through Land of Rivers yesterday, they’ll be here soon and you know they’ll be after you – they don’t like to leave people alive” Madara sighed and rubbed at his forehead, “I know Hashi, I just don’t know what you want me to do. The Core can only watch for them and then hope to take them down somewhere away from too many civilians” he said, “And hope that the Shimura keep their noses out of it” Hashirama added “at least Black Zetsu is out of the country as far as Mito and I can tell so we can focus on this.”

Madara frowned, “Why is he gone? I thought he liked to take advantage of chaos” Hashirama sighed over the phone with a crackling sound “He does, and he has a nose for it. He must have something better to go after” Madara winced “That’s not good Senju” Hashirama hummed softly in agreement and Madare hung up wihtout saying goodbye. The Uchiha rubbed at his face and tried to focus on the feel of the soft leather on his face, a problem for another day.

“Major!” the shout had Madara leaping out of his chair, one hand reaching for his coat as he stormed out into the bullpen, “What?!” Fugaku was panting in the office, his young face flushed and blotchy “There’s- there’s been an attack, the Red Wolf” he panted and Madara swore under his breath, he _hated_ Red Wolf cases, they never hurt anyone too badly unless they were on the shady side of the law but their cases were always a _mess_. “Any idea of the victims?” he asked as he pulled on his coat and checked his gun, Red Wolf cases didn’t leave anyone alive, but it wouldn’t do to be unprepared. Fugaku shook his head, swallowing hard- this had probably been one of his first cases the poor kid, what a rough way to start- “There- there wasn’t- anything to use to identify _anyone_ ” Madara shook his head and strode past his young clansmen, gesturing to Mikoto and Kenshin as he left, no _way_ was he taking Kagami on this one, he was still to young to see this sort of thing.


	4. command

Tobirama watched the woman closely, eyes intent and wary for traps or double dealing; it wasn’t very likely- he was far more valuable alive than dead- but Tobirama knew better than to let his guard down. Akemi Namikaze smiled up at him, bright and cheerful even as the bright mark of her Geas flared on her right hand; she was a difficult woman to read, a free agent for the most part she wasn’t beholden to any of the Families but definitely didn’t mind passing out information without much thought for the consequences. Still the information broker was a good client and Tobirama’s own half Geas had never marked her as a threat – on the other hand how much could be rely on something as broken as his Geas? If only it had been given to him correctly instead of as an accident. (Tobirama tried not to think about it, about Hashirama standing in that room facing a Goddess and promising to make a vow to her, to never go back on his word, to never break his taboo; he tried not to think about the way the goddess had smiled or how her voice had sounded out of sync with her lip _“Why you mortals started **seeking** out a Geas I will never know. There was a time when it was a curse, something to be avoided as much as possible” _Hashirama had ducked his head and spoken too quietly “I know but I just…I have never understood where to stop, not me or my brothers, and I am afraid that someday I will stop seeing the trees while looking out for the good of the forest.” The Goddess's eyebrows arched up and her head cocked. “ _Well…that is something else entirely isn’t it. Hmm, you know the Uchiha don’t you? You know their taboo and the price, the vow they swear to the Matriarch?”_ Tobirama had sucked in a shocked breath “ _it is a woman’s gift to give, do you know why? It is the first and last protection to those women with strength of will enough to impose it on the world and make the oaths they are given stick. It is binding child, and should you ever break your vow and commit taboo it will break **you**_. _Is it worth that?_ ” Hashirama had blown out a slow breath, “Yes.”)

The former Senju wondered a little what Akemi Namikaze had vowed to get her Geas, wondered if she had sought out the power without knowing the history and truth of it or if it had been forced upon her, an oath not to break a taboo and always exist restricted. There was no way for him to know of course but he wondered anyway. “Thank you Hiraishin, exactly as promised as always, though it would have been nice if it had been kept more under the down low...” she trailed off meaningfully and Tobirama snorted “It would have been if you had told us that the Shimura were after it and we had known to approach it differently. Be realistic Namikaze, you wanted information on Matriarchs that can give Geas, it was never going to come cheap” (though it wouldn’t be half as useful as she might have wanted, he had been sure to walk the fine line of giving her info she might be able to get elsewhere while also giving her enough to satisfy her need for new intel, a _very_ fine line) Namikaze smiled prettily, “Of course you are right” she turned to go with a tiny bow but hesitated at the door for a moment “Hiraishin, be careful. The winds are changing, a storm is coming, time to batten down the hatches” with those words she slipped out of the room and left Tobirama staring after her, well, Fuck. Maybe she did care about what happened to him. Huh, Tobirama had _not_ predicted that.

* * *

Madara wanted to hurt something; in the last two days of careful investigation his crime scene had gone from gory to _tacky_ , congealing and _disgusting_ and if there was one thing that Tobirama had rubbed off on him (there were many) it was a deep dislike of anything messy like this. The Uchiha watched a grim faced officer carefully wash clotting blood off the wall, going slow and careful so as not to miss any clues about the crime scene; at this point they knew that the thieves had stolen- well sort of, they knew that it was a hard drive and were fairly sure it had to do with Geas, and the clues (clues that almost seemed _planted_ ) pointed to it being info on Geas Matriarchs- and that the Red Wolf had been there but this didn’t quite fit their MO and they weren’t sure who the victims had been except that they were probably on the wrong side of the law. “Major” he looked over at Kikiyo as the slender woman called out to him, “Yes Lieutenant?” he asked as he picked his way to her side of the room “Look at this, you’ve seen that this side is less of a mess, it’s not obvious but I think there was more than one thief” Madara blinked and cocked his head, looking more carefully at the blood patterns. Huh, now that she pointed it out this side did have a different blood pattern, the blood looked like it had come from farther away and sprayed across the room from the other side.

Frowning Madara turned to survey the scene again, looking this time for traces of a second fighter in the _absence_ of blood, “Yes…” he murmured “I think you’re right. A second thief that works cleaner, probably took the hard drive rather than sending it with Red Wolf” he twisted, letting his Geas flare and unfocusing his eyes “…there is…ozone, lightning, _Thunder_ ” he said softly. Kikiyo straightened up, eyes going focused “You think it’s the Ghost” (Madara careful ignored the fact that there was a betting pool in the office about which nickname would end up sticking – though some were advocation for just combining them, Madara would never admit that he liked Ghost Thunder the most) Madara nodded “Probably, we know they work together sometimes, and it would make sense for Red Wolf to do what they could to keep their identitie out of the limelight, their accomplice does seem to prefer to stay under the radar" and they were good at it, Ghost Thunder wouldn’t even be someone they knew about if the Vow Core hadn’t caught the tail end of a heist they and anyone other than the Core would never have seen them.

He shook his head, “So Red Wolf and an accomplice” (“someday you will have to give up and use a code name” Kikiyo muttered with a smirk, Madara ignored her) “after a hard drive with Geas info and met unexpected resistance from others that were _also_ after it” Madara said. Kikiyo nodded “Probably Family, which means most likely Shimura unless a smaller Family is going to push for a rise in influence – which wouldn’t make sense given the fact that the Gold and Silver Brothers are contracted with the Shimura.” Madara swore under his breath, rubbing at his aching head “Alright, ok, Red Wolf and Ghost Thunder” (he ignored Kikiyo’s gleeful snicker) “are not our priority, they’re low threat to Konoha or Fire Country as a whole. I want to focus on the Shimura and the Brothers, I’m much more worried about them” he paused and pulled his phone out as it vibrated against his side.

“Lieutenant?” he barked and Kuro’s voice was tired as his lead in Eyes-in-the-Sky responded (every few years someone put up a fuss about the way that the top four positions in the Core were filled with Uchiha but the fact was that you couldn’t be in the Core without carrying a Geas and the Uchiha had a high concentration of Geas as well a the history of serving the Vow Core. Still, right now it was even worse than usual given that Madara led the Core as a whole and two of his thee Lieutenants were not only Uchiha but his direct siblings). “Major, tell the Core to stay off Ghost Thunder, put a stay of attack on them- and maybe Red Wolf as well-“ Kuro said sounding harried, Madara frowned “Why?” “My Geas nudging, _hard_ , I’m not sure why but I promise that they're not our enemy and…we might need them before this is over. If nothing else they aren’t our priority” Madara pursed his lips and sighed but he had never discounted his sister’s advice before (or at least not since…the one time it really mattered) and he shouldn’t start now. “Ok, I’ll pass it on” if they were lucky maybe Madara would even get a look at the single best thief he had ever run up against, he had always wanted to see a ghost.


	5. obligation

Tobirama was of the opinion that days like this shouldn’t be allowed. It just wasn’t fair in any way, shape, or form, for days like this to happen and it was taking everything he had not to pout as he tapped his fingers against his thigh in boredom. Ugh, he grimaced as his fingers slipped through one of the many rips in his pants and poked into another sluggishly bleeding cut; fuck even his _pants_ were ruined and this pair had held on for longer than any of his others on he was fond of them (and he didn’t want to have to buy more, money was always a bit tight and clothing never was high on the list – being a fugitive was _expensive-_ though it would probably help if he stopped giving money away to help the street kids) but now they were definitely ruined beyond repair. Fucking Shimura. It was insulting to be caught in a trap like this and he _never_ would have been if it hadn’t been for the baby Uchiha they were using as bait– and planning to frame him with- which was it’s own problem, someone somewhere had figured out that Tobirama had a soft spot for Uchiha and that did not bode well for the former Senju at all.

“Um, Ghost?” the hesitant voice drew Tobirama out of his thoughts and he rolled his eyes at where the teenager was trying to peer around at the albino strategically located behind him- no way was he letting an Uchiha get a good look at him, hood and gloves and bulky clothing or not- and not having much luck with he way he was tied to the chair. Tobirama sighed “Hiraishin” he said flatly, the Uchiha squirmed and tried to twist again “What?” “Call me Hiraishin” that at least got the boy to stop wiggling “Really?! Aw, I was betting on Ghost..” the excited pitch of his voice and the way it trailed off in a disappointed whine left Tobirama biting down another eye roll. “Aren’t you a bit young for a Geas?” the albino asked and the boy went still for a moment, “um” he whispered, Tobirama exhaled forcefully “You are wearing Vow Core uniform- of the field work branch even- and they never take anyone without Geas, not to mention that you are awake already when what the Shimura hit you with should have kept you out for quite a bit longer – durable, therefor, Geas. Your Matriarch gave it to you early.” Tobirama explained as patiently as he could while wounded and trapped in a warehouse waiting for police or Vow Core to arrive and shoot on sight when they thought Tobirama had kidnapped the boy.

The kid went very still for a moment before shifting a little “You know a lot about Geas then?” he asked, “and the Core?” Tobirama snorted a laugh “’know thy enemies’ that means knowing the Core, which means Geas as that is what the Core is supposed to police” a slantwise lie but good enough and the boy seemed to buy it anyway. “Oh. So you have a Geas then?” he was fishing, not very well but still, Tobirama was a little impressed; doing that while fighting off drugs and probably a good knock to the head was impressive even with the extra durability that came with any Geas. The albino hummed softly, “The Core certainly seems to think so” he murmured noncommittally, the boy’s head dropped and there was a clear pout in his voice when he spoke “You _have_ to have a Geas, you couldn’t do half of what you have without it” Tobirama stared at the back of his dark head, thoughts spinning a little; this boy couldn’t be older than seventeen, there was no way he remembered Konoha before the Families had found someone to give them Geas (Tobirama never had figured out how they did that), back when the Vow Core wasn’t based in Konoha but in the capital of Fire Country, back when their work took them all over the continent rather than mostly focused in Konoha.

He must have been about very young when the Core moved, maybe even born here if he was closer to sixteen; Tobirama remembered, remembered the way things had been when he was very young and Konoha was mostly peaceful, remembered when the Families had suddenly exploded into power as the amount of Geas users exploded, remembered the fear and the blood and being ten when the Vow Core and the Uchiha moved here and Hashirama found a new best friend, remembered those first few bitter years before he and his brother had patched things up, before Madara got his Geas and realized what he and Tobirama were to each other, before Hashirama had gained his Geas and Tobirama made that fatal mistake, before that perfect summer when he and Madara moved past uncertain friends, before everything else that had gone wrong. Tobirama remember but this child probably didn’t, he probably had no idea how worrying it was if the Uchiha Matriarchs had decided to start giving out Geas too young- after all no Uchiha was allowed on the Core until after they had several years to get used to their Geas and understand it, for him to be on the force he must have been given it at thirteen or so and that was _very_ worrying.

The former Senju sighed and ducked his head, huffing, can’t do half of what he did without a Geas, how little this boy knew, ‘ _what are you teaching the kid these days ‘dara?’_ “Don’t be so sure of that, there is more in this world than you understand” he murmured. The Uchiha went still looking at his lap and for a long moment they sat in silence; Tobirama wondered if the boy would listen to him, if he would remember and be more careful, if he would even care what a criminal said or if he would just discount whatever Tobirama said; the albino wouldn’t even be able to blame him if he did, as far as the Tobirama knew the kid might even think that the former Senju was part in kidnapping him, that was certainly what the Shimura wanted. Being framed for hurting an Uchiha, what a mess, he just hoped the police came rather than the Core because if the Core did Madara would be at the front to get back his wayward subordinate and Tobirama really didn’t want to be killed by his soulmate.

* * *

Madara stared at the dark building with clenched teeth and fists; Kagami was in there, probably hurt and in danger and maybe afraid (god don’t let him be dead, _please_ don’t let him be dead) and Madara couldn’t do anything until they got through the forcefield around the _fucking_ doors because of course it was an old building, one that had been made with cold iron and no Geas could breach it anywhere but the doors. Which meant waiting and feeling the anger and fear grow in his chest with every minute passing by; as soon as they got those doors open he was going to _destroy_ anyone in there that wasn’t blood, fuck arresting anyone, he didn’t care what info he could have gotten from catching someone, they were all _dead_.

“Major” a soft voice said next to him, he nodded jerkily, uncaring which of his people this was, “Is it down?” he snapped. There was a pause and then a soft “Yes sir” and Madara grinned a grin full of teeth, striding towards the first unwarded door, ignoring the voices behind him telling him to wait for backup or until they got the other doors open; Madara wasn’t waiting and his Geas was already burning bright in his eyes, hot and starbright the soft words of the day he had been given it echoing in his head in a blur like a distant gong. Distantly he felt Kikiyo fall in at his back as the doors blew open in fort of him already vaporizing under his fury, his family was here and hurt, a _child_ Geas or no and Madara was going to destroy everything in his way to getting Kagami back.

The trek through the front offices back to the main storage space in the back where Eyes-in-the-Sky said Kagami was passed in a blur, and he stepped into the large, dim, empty space in ringing footsteps. Kagami was in the middle of the room, tied to a chair and Madara took in his appearance in a glace (battered but seemed ok for the most part, awake and alert at least) already focused on the man in the shadows behind his cousin; the man was slender from what Madara could see and wrapped in a flowing large jacket- like an odd cloak- hiding most of his shape though the pants were clearly nearly shredded and his face was hidden in the shadows and the hood of his jacket. He was also alert and tense behind Kagami and power was already surging through Madara’s eyes as the man shifted farther back and his jacket began to vaporize at the edges when Kagami called out sharply, “ _Don’t_ , it’s the Ghost” the boy was leaning forward so far he was almost falling out of his chair.

Madara snapped a glance at him before looking back to the man, now that he was paying more attention and most just focused on saving Kagami he could see that the man was too far away from the boy to be much of a threat and was making no moves to attack any of them; Kuro’s words rang through his mind and he hesitated for a moment. In that second the man lunged back and up, catching hold of a protruding iron spar and twisting himself up in a swift movement. In a second of swirling movements he twisted and slammed into the wall feet first well over their heads, the weakened old metal gave under his weight and in a scant moment he was gone, vanishing through the hole in the iron wall; Madara’s mind stuttered, he could have left at any moment? Why hadn’t he cleared out before the Core got here? Before they could get a look at him, he had always gone so far out of his way to keep them from seeing them but this time he hadn’t, what was going on?

“Should we follow?” Kikiyo asked quietly, others already moving past them to get to Kagami and untie him. Madara blew out a slow breath, “No. No I don’t think so, Kuro said he’s not the enemy and he’s going to be looking for a place to hole up for now, he looked pretty battered. Besides, I want to know what Kagami thinks of him before we do anything” he said and she nodded next to him, her sleek dark hair catching the faint light where it was pulled back into a sleek geisha like style. Madara sighed and rubbed at his aching eyes, grimacing at the tacky blood on his cheeks; no matter how often it happened he still hated the feeling. Kikiyo tapped his elbow and held out a damp handkerchief to wipe his cheek and he shot her a grateful look as he cleaned up and tossed his ridiculously thick braid back over his shoulder – he didn’t love his stupid long hair but…Tobirama had liked it back when they were young and foolish and Tobirama wore glinting red in all his piercings just because Madara gave the jewelry. He sighed again and forced himself not to rub at his eyes, he shouldn’t be thinking about that now, there was work to do and Kagami to check on and Tobirama wasn’t anywhere Madara could find, he needed to focus.

The trip back to the Vow Core Tower was fast at he had expected, Kagami would already be there at medical and there were others looking over the warehouse, he needed to get his thoughts in order and gather his team to regroup. But first Kagami if he was good to debrief, Madara could wait if his cousin needed it but he was itching to ask his questions and the ache just under his collar bone nagging at him wasn’t helping his mood; it had been a long time since his soul words had hurt like that.

To his relief Kagami was awake and all but vibrating with the need to tell Madara about what had happened. “Kagami-“ “He’s called Hiraishin!” the boy blurted out, “he said I could call him Hiraishin and he talked to me a little bit but he stayed behind me the whole time so I don’t really know much about what he looks like but he fights really _really_ well, it was _so cool_ and he killed the people that abducted me and then he just stayed there until you arrived and I asked about a Geas and he said that there was more in this world than I know and-“ “Kagami!” Madara snapped, cutting off his excited chatter “Slowly, from the beginning” he commanded, and the boy took a deep breath and did as he was told. (Madara frowned in confusion, it definitely seemed like Hiraishin had been keeping an eye on Kagami and helping him- like the hard drive?- against the Shimura and Madara…didn’t know what to make of that).


	6. prohibition

Tobirama sighed as he watched the monitors in his lair, knees pulled tight to his chest under the too large sweater. It was frustrating to be able to do nothing but watch the monitors for any signs that the Core had followed him or the Shimura deciding to come after him directly now that their trap had failed; so far there hadn’t been anything but Tobirama wasn’t going to push his luck, not when he didn’t know what the Core was think about him- leaving an iron building was a bit distinctive really (the Shimura must have assumed that he had a full Geas as well to think that the building could hold him – they _definitely_ wouldn’t think that Tobirama would stay put just more an Uchiha child)- or how badly exactly the Shimura wanted him dead. It had been a _very_ carefully constructed trap after all, from the bait of the kid to the fact that Tobirama was supposed to be meeting with one of their contacts – which he had only agreed too because he wanted to try and get a read on the lay of the land with them. That contact was very dead now he had taken care of that as soon as it became clear it was a trap (it was well known that you didn’t cross Hiraishin without a death wish. Ever.) but now there was no way to know why the Shimura were after him or why they hadn’t just tried a flat-out assassination rather than framing him.

Framing him should have killed him. The was that Madara’s eyes had shone and dripped star fire was enough to tell him that (as was the fact that a good half of his jacket was now vaporized without Madara even actively trying to kill him – Madara had always liked ruining Tobirama’s clothes) and if the Uchiha hadn’t hesitated at the last moment and let the albino escape by the skin of his teeth he would be nothing more than ash at this point (he never would have tried to defend himself, not when the cost might be hurting his soulmate), Tobirama wouldn’t have been fast enough to get out of the way of Madara’s eyes without that head start. A head start he still didn’t know why he had gotten, why had Kagami told Madara who Tobirama was? And how had that been enough on its own to stop the Uchiha from killing him? Frustrated Tobirama rubbed at the thin scars on his eyebrow where his piercings used to be before Katashi Burēku had gotten his hands on Tobirama (fucking sadist made sure that Tobirama no longer wore any jewelry and though having his many piercing ripped out was not the worst part of that little experience- blessedly short before he killed the fucker- it was the one that he could never really forget, not when the small wooden box of jewelry Madara had gotten him sat at the bottom of an old footlocker where Tobirama kept his keepsakes. Tobirama had tried repricing his earlobes all of once before the panic hit and he realized it wasn’t worth it).

His head hurt and everything he did ever since he had saved Madara seemed to be a reminder and the words on his back _ached_ and burned as if it was the first time Madara had said them. Growing up with those words on his back had been so painful, and when he realized the his soulmate was Madara he had decided not to tell the Uchiha (who should have been able to tell honestly, idiot) to avoid that pain; if only Madara hadn’t convinced him to give them a chance maybe it wouldn’t have hurt so much but Tobirama had _wanted_ , had wanted Madara and all his fire so badly and eventually he had given in and for a perfect summer it had been everything Tobirama could dream of. Madara hadn’t even cared that Tobirama wanted to take it slowly- he hadn’t wanted Madara to see the words on his back and realize that someday he would say them, that someday he would want to be rid of Tobirama and that those would be the most important words he would say to his soulmate. For a time Tobirama had even let himself think that maybe he was catastrophizing, that surely there was more to what was going to happen than just Madara banishing him, surely there was a reason and they could figure things out and it would be ok even if it hurt but then –

\- well. There was no coming back from hurting Izuna. Tobirama hadn’t meant too, it had been an accident but in the end if it weren’t for Tobirama Izuna would be ok and he knew, had known as soon as he had seen Izuna’s blood, that there was no coming back from that. Madara would _never_ forgive Tobirama hurting his brother and it was all Tobirama’s fault. The albino tipped his head back, staring at the ceiling and breathing carefully around the sting in his eyes, this was foolish, he couldn’t let himself think about this, he had been so careful not to think about it and now…( _fuck_ , all he wanted was Madara back, he wanted it so bad it felt some days as though he would choke on it, he wanted Madara’s eyes warm on him, those strong arms and wildfire smile, and he wanted to be a Senju again, to see his brothers, to feel safe as he slept and not have to worry about money and just – _fuck_ )

He needed to focus.

* * *

Madara was tired and coming home to the cold empty Uchiha manor was not the relief he had imagined it would be when he was younger. Once upon a time he dreamed of the house being warm and filled with papers, books and notes and anything else his soulmate wanted; had dreamed of laughing in the manor over the mess that was the Uchiha complex and how glad they were to be so far away from it with the manor in the city proper instead of near the complex at the edge of the city in the tree lined boulevards of the rich families (and probably some Families as well). The manor was beautiful and in a very good part of the city but it was far enough from the rest of the family for them to get some space and privacy and Madara had known that his soulmate would appreciate that (not to mention Madara had rather been looking forward to a place to ravish his beautiful soulmate without worrying about family hearing or finding them no matter where they had been. His soulmate hadn’t been ready for sex before – _before_ , but he had made it quietly clear that that wasn’t about distaste for the act- not that it would have mattered if it was, Madara would have found other ways to deal with his libido on his own if his soulmate hadn’t wanted that- and Madara had been looking forward to the day Tobirama felt ready. Too making him feel _so good_. Another chance lost).

The door thudded shut and Madara looked at the dark hall hating the hollow feeling that clung to the walls, with an exhausted shiver he shoved away from the door disregarding the kitchen and heading straight to his bedroom and a bath; he had no energy for anything like that right now and he just…some days as he was eating or showering or lying in the wide empty bed he wondered, wondered if his soulmate was ok. Wondered if his…if Tobirama was safe and warm and full and comfortable, he had to be right? He _had_ too, the only thing worse than that that Madara could think of was his Tobirama lying dead in an ally somewhere, never showing up in a morgue- and Madara would know if he did, he had put out a watch a long time ago- where Madara could at least make sure he was buried properly.

The Uchiha tipped his had back against the tile, the wight of his hair a comfort with it was accompanied by the memory of Tobirama’s fingers in it (“oh my god ‘dara, do you never brush this?” a warm laughing voice and Madara frowned with his eyes closed as Tobirama tried to wash his hair while Madara slumped in the bath, exhausted “If it’s such a mess I’ll just cut it off” he grumbled. There was a sharp tug on the hair and he yelped- it was that or moan and he thought that might be a bit much- “Don’t you dare, I love your long hair” Tobirama said sharply and Madara smiled and relaxed into gentle fingers). There were days that he felt Tobirama’s absence more than others and recently it seemed as though those days came think and fast and Madara just, just wished that he could know Tobirama was ok. Wished even more that he could be the one taking care of the albino, wished he could dress his soulmate in stupid expensive fabrics that made him roll his eyes at Madara even as he curled into them, wish he could feed Tobirama all his favorite foods that the Uchiha still kept in the house, wished he could be the one to bundle Tobirama up and tuck him into Madara’s bed just to sleep as the albino tried to wriggle away and rolled his eyes and somehow only ended up closer.

Old dreams, old wishes. Madara brushed his fingers over the words just under his left collar bone, Tobirama’s slanting writing still clear on the Uchiha’s skin, _you don’t get to give up, that’s not who you are_ if only he had known earlier that those words would come to mean, so much at so many different times in his life. They were the only things that had kept him moving forward after his temper lifted and he heard the full story about what had happened with Izuna, after Izuna had shamefacedly admitted that he hadn’t been fully truthful, after he felt the cracks in his Geas and _knew_ , he had wanted _so badly_ to just give up after that and it was only his soulmate’s words that had kept him going through everything no matter how much it hurt. (He wondered sometimes what words of his Tobirama carried, he hoped that it was something that Madara had said that amazing summer they had been together, something that would help his soulmate remember how amazing he was. He feared desperately that it wasn’t.)


	7. taboo

Tobirama’s lips peeled back as he bent under a flashing blade, arching back until he had to place a hand on the ground before pushing into a back handspring and slamming the toe of his boot into his attackers chin, his muscles screamed at doing the move without any momentum but he just forced himself through it and twisted as he came down to avoid another blade. Of all the times to get in a fight it just had to be when he was still beat up from saving the baby Uchiha and _then_ having to help Guðrún out of a messy attack and then out of the city (she was booking it until things cooled down, had offered to take him with her but seemed unsurprised when he said no) and the _only_ good thing about this was that they didn’t seem to have guns – which made sense given that he was fairly sure they had been on the way to Madara’s home when Tobirama had found them (a paltry force to send after the Uchiha, Tobirama wondered a little how they were supposed to be enough to take down _Madara_ , opportunists maybe? Maybe there was a bounty on his head now) and guns would do jack shit against Madara.

Honestly Madara could take care of himself, he didn’t need Tobirama getting in the way but…the albino just _couldn’t_ bring himself to not try and protect the Uchiha (his _soulmate_ ) and so here he was, having _way_ too much trouble dealing with a few Geas-less men and getting blood everywhere- god you’d think he was the Red Wolf or something, it was embarrassing- and no closer to doing what he was _trying_ to do in the area and dropping the thumb drive at Madara’s house (Hashirama would have worked too but Tobirama knew there was no way his brother wouldn’t have figured out that it was Tobirama, not when the very earth would tell him) to let them know the bits of the Shimura’s plan that Akemi Namikaze had given him, her face ashen and drawn in the flickering streetlight as she handed it over (“I have no particular fondness for the Core but….this can’t be allowed. I’m just as dead as you if the Shimura take control. This should be enough to get the Core somewhere with their Eyes-in-the-Sky”).

Tobirama was still a bit shocked that she had given it to him but he hadn’t even bothered to check the drive before bringing it to Madara, the Uchiha was smart enough to check for anything malignant before he ran it on anything that wasn’t a closed circuit and every minute that it was in Tobirama’s possession was another that it could be taken from him (especially now that the Shimura were after him, they were not pleased that he had survived their trap) or that Madara might need the info in order to make plans. The karambit bit into the last men’s hamstrings and as he went down with a howl (honestly, there was no need to be that loud) and Tobirama cut his throat as he stood up, flicking blood off his blade with a disgusted expression. The albino grimaced at the sharp ache in his ribs, (fuck, his cracked ribs and his lacerated legs and his badly bruised throat and the gash down his arm and all the fucking bruising, he needed to go to ground for a while and heal up and yeah, he just didn’t see that happening anytime soon) a sharp intake of air had him spinning (ugh, too fast, apparently they got a knock in on his head too) and blinking dazedly at the broad man outlined with light in the entrance of the alleyway.

_Fuck_

* * *

Madara stared blankly down the dim ally, struck dumb by surprise at the sight of the slim man in dark clothing standing in a ring of gasping groaning people; what the _hell_ was _Hiraishin_ doing _here_? For a moment both men just stared at each other before one of the people around the slender thief tried to lunge for his leg and got a vicious kick for his troubles which jarred Madara out of his surprise, “Hiraishin?” he asked slowly, wondering if this was his chance to actually talk to the man and maybe get to the bottom of whatever was gong on with him. The other man recoiled farther back into the shadows only to hiss a little and coughing raised a hand to his throat- was he hurt?- but Madara took another careful step anyway, hoping the man would give him a chance to talk “What are you doing here? I’m not-“ but he wasn’t aloud to finish his sentence (wasn’t allowed to tell the other man he wasn’t going to attack him) before a thin package was thrown at his face and distracted him just enough for Hiraishin to jump for a fire escape and vanish up the side of the building. Madara snatched the yellow envelop out of the air and fought not to snarl, forcing down the temptation to chase after the man, it wouldn’t do any good and would probably only make him more wary of Madara and the Core which was _not_ what he wanted.

The Uchiha sighed deeply and frowned at the package in his hands, examining it as he pulled out his phone and waited for it to connect with the headquarters of the Core; it was a basic yellow mailing envelop that seemed to contain only a small rectangle- a thumb drive?- with his name written on it is careful letters (they reminded him of something, where had he seen handwriting like that before? It almost looked like…but no. there was no way. Right?). Absently he rubbed at his words as he tucked his phone into his shoulder and slid a finger under the flap, frowning a little as he shook out a dusty bright red thumb drive, what in the world-? On the other end of the line there was a click and then Izuna’s voice rang through, “Madara? What’s going on, I thought you were headed home?” Madara narrowed his eyes at the dark alleyway, “Shouldn’t you be headed home too Izuna?” he snarked back. “Never mind, I need a field team, there was an incident” on the other end he heard Izuna straighten up “Are you ok? What happened, Madara-“ “I’m fine Izu, really, it’s…complicated” Madara hesitated for a moment and the sighed more deeply “I’ll wait for the team, but I’ll probably be back in the office after that, I have something for you to look at.”

Madara tapped his fingers as the team swarmed carefully over the scene, slowly examining every inch of the alleyway for any indication of the particulars of what had happened and _why_ Hiraishin had been so close to his house with an envelop he must have been planning to leave for Madara – which made no sense, Madara was itching to get back to headquarters and see what was on the damn thing. “Major” he nodded at the uncertain looking woman waiting for his attention “the attackers have no identification, there’s six of them and they look a bit..scruffy honestly. Patterns indicate that Hiraishin stared the fight but no indication of why he would, they do have a phone that might have some info on it but no way to know until we get it back to the Quartermaster, Lt. Izuna might be able to find something.” Madara nodded, that about fit what he had guess though it did leave the question of what these people were doing here and why Hiraishin had attacked them. “Also, um, it looks like Hiraishin might have been a bit wounded by them, some of the blood isn’t the attackers and it’s a messier scene then his normal.”

Madara blinked at him, an odd buzz in his ears. Hiraishin was hurt? Hiraishin who’s handwriting looked so like… _his_. Hiraishin who helped Kagami, Hiraishin who never let information that could hurt the Core or the Uchiha out, Hiraishin who always seemed to walk the edge of what was morally correct and what would keep the Uchiha safe. (it couldn’t be possible. _Couldn’t._ Right?) he rubbed absently at the words under his collar bone and took a deep breath, torn between duties but – _“I think you owe it to him to swallow your pride” “they’re not our enemy” “Just keep your eyes open brother, keep your eyes open for the shadows and don’t forget to look up – you remember how much he liked high places”_ (Hiraishin always went up to leave a scene). Mind made up abruptly Madara shoved the package at the Uchiha next to him with a barked order to get anything they had from the crime and the package back to HQ and take it straight to Izuna, no side trips, no delays, _nothing_. Absently he noticed the woman take off for the car at tops speed even as his eyes spun Geas twisting to life under his skin. Weather or not Hiraishin was Tobirama he owed it to the other to make sure he was alright and if it was – if it was Tobirama who had been under their noses for so long, silently helping where he could, if it was his missing soulmate, he was going to do everything in his damned power- and some that might not be- to convince him to come in out of the cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so it looks like this might not get addressed in the fic proper so here is some info about the Vow Core: their job is to handle Geas related crime in any form and they are composed of three branches with the Major (Madara Uchiha) leading them. Under him directly is the field team that deals with threats on the ground lead by Lieutenant Kikiyo Uchiha. Then there is Eyes-in-the-Sky, they are sort of surveillance, oracle, prophetic, Intel stuff, their job is to know things and any one with any sort of prophetic Geas goes there, they are led by Lt. Kuro Uchiha (Madara's sister). The third branch is the Quartermaster, its a small branch and they deal with all the tech and hard info that is received, it's lead by Lt. Izuna Uchiha (after the accident he moved to this branch rather than field work).
> 
> Also, this might get addressed but if not: Soulmates are not universal in this world, about 1/3 of the population has a soulmate and each soulmate has the most important words their soulmate will ever say to them written on their skin. It doesn't tell you anything about the context of those words of course which makes misunderstandings really easy but you always know what the most important thing they'll say is. When two soulmates meet they can feel the resonance - this happens anytime they are together, just a faint almost vibration as if one's soul was resonating in time with the other and maybe a faint pain or tingle in the words. Soulmates are noticeably more common in people with Geas.


	8. vow

Tobirama sucked in a sharp breath as he curled into the large padded office chair, ribs searing with pain as he tucked his legs up (he should probably wrap those…), the sloppily bandaged lacerations on his legs and the graze on his arm stinging like a _motherfucker_ (sue him, he was _tired_. And low on gauze). The best he could do about his throat was ice it and for now he was just ignoring the rest of the bruising – he would find arnica gel later. All in all he felt like _shit,_ was exhausted, and his head was swimming, it was definitely on the top-ish end of fucked up he had been since he had started being Hiraishin and he was terrifyingly vulnerable until he healed up a bit. To make things worse it probably wouldn’t even be that hard to find him if anyone came looking but he wasn’t well enough to find another place to go to ground, so his lair and hope it was.

The albino blew out a slow breath, trying to modulate it around the pain in his throat and chest and _trying_ not to think about Madara and his careful voice (what had he been planning to say before Tobirama had distracted him? _““What are you doing here? I’m not-“_ I’m not what?); trying not to think about the way he hadn’t attacked right away, the way he seemed willing to give Hiraishin at least a sliver of a chance. He could almost see it now, Madara cautiously friendly watching him with dark eyes, Tobirama stepping out of the dark, pushing the hood off his head, the way Madara’s face would shift in disgust, the way it would fade to apathy, the way he would look away as if Tobirama was too disgusting to even look at, the way he would looked as he called the Core to take him in and the way his soulmate's back would look as he walked away. The way Madara wouldn’t look back at him. Would never look back at him. (Hadn’t looked back at him then, when all Tobirama wanted, hoped for, was just one more glance, just one sign that Madara cared even if the words on Tobirama’s back told him the real truth _‘you mean nothing to me, whatever we were to each other is dead’_ )

The albino tipped his head back into the chair as much as he could and forced himself to breath normally to keep from hurting himself more even as wetness dripped from his temples into his hair; he could feel the words stinging on his back, _“you mean nothing to me’_ on the left side of his spine and _‘whatever we were to each other is dead’_ on the other. A promise Tobirama should have listened to (though to his shame he had never been able to regret the summer they had together after Madara convinced him to give them a try, he should regret leading Madara into heartbreak but he just…couldn’t. not when he _treasured_ those days). Tobirama tucked himself more deeply in Madara’s stretched out old sweatshirt, curling his toes over the edge of the chair in the ratty sweatpants he had stolen from his brother, the ones that were a bit too long and riddled with holes; today would pass. Madara would find enough info on the hard drive to deal with the Shimura, Tobirama didn’t need to do anything else. Today would pass and tomorrow Tobirama would go back to the shadows, were he always should have been (Madara would forget him, as he always would. _you_ _mean nothing to me_ ).

* * *

Madara knew even before he turned his Geas on the heavy well protected door that his soulmate was on the other side. He could _feel_ it now though he hadn’t recognized it before (and wasn’t that ironic, the same thing that had kept him from seeing Tobirama when they were boys until he was given his Geas and _forced_ to see was the same thing that had kept him from seeing Tobirama when he was right in front on Madara again) and now that he was paying attention he could see traces of Tobirama in the way the security was set up; oh it was extremely clever but now that Madara knew what he was looking for he could pick his way through it well enough – it wouldn’t do to scare his soulmate off when Madara had just found him again.

The large underground room was dim and low ceiling-ed, filled with large heavy piping - the perfect place to spring a trap and Madara picked his way through it carefully until he could look out at what was clearly the main space. The walls, floor, and ceiling were concrete but the ceiling was quite a bit higher and a profusion of old lamps helped with the lighting a great deal though the main source of light was a _wall_ of screens, many of them connected to the cameras around the building but some careful set to watch the Core HQ and Madara’s house and several devoted to projects of some kind that Madara didn’t bother to understand – he was to busy looking at the large office chair in front of the screens and the person curled into a startlingly small ball there.

Tobirama- and it _was_ Tobirama, his gorgeous soulmate- stared back to him with large stunned eyes on his pale face, a horrible healing bruise on his jaw highlighting the thinness of his face and deep circles under his slightly glassy eyes (Madara remembered them differently, he remembered them bright and clever and sly and now…). The albino looked small in over-sized old clothing and his messy hair was a ruffled mane around his face instead of the shoulder length blue tipped white he remembered, (and there was no winking metal on his lips or eyebrows or over the curves oh his ears) it made him look feral and broken and _hurt_ and Madara kind of wanted to throw up.

“Hey Tobira” he murmured, closing the gap between them carefully (he couldn’t scare Tobirama off now, he _couldn’t_ ) and watching as dull red eyes just blinked at him, mouth dropping open a little in shock as the albinos struggled to catch up (and that was _very_ worrying, Tobirama never had to catch up – that was Madara’s job). “I – I didn’t get the chance to talk to you earlier, I wanted too” the Uchiha added, stopping a good ten feet away when Tobirama began to stiffen a little. “Mada- _Major_ , Major- I- what?” Tobirama sounded disoriented and slow and Madara wanted to hit something at the formal address; he had to take this slow, _slow_ “You can still call me Madara, Tobira. You can always call me that” Tobirama’s brow furrowed “I won’t get mad, promise. I just wanted to see you” the albino blinked at him “You – but we’re dead you said” and now Madara wanted to throw up again, he had hoped _so much_ that Tobirama wouldn’t remember that “it says so on my back” the other man added and Madara’s knees went out from under him.

It was like a nightmare, it _was_ a nightmare, one he had had over and over, that the words on Tobirama’s back- the words Tobirama hadn’t wanted him to see- might be that. That Tobirama had grown up with that on his skin and never been able to get away from it, that words Madara had said in his rage and foolish pride might be the most important thing he ever said to his soulmate. He sobbed dryly (how could he-? how could he save something that he had already broken? That he was always going to break? How could he change something that was already done, that fate had decreed?) and Tobirama made a soft worried sound only for it to end in a pained hiss that brought Madara’s head up in an instant – there would be time for his grief and guilt later, when he got his soulmate in from the cold.

Madara moved a little closer on his knees (stay low and nonthreatening), trying to get a good look at what had made Tobirama hiss but as he came closer the light shifted and he could suddenly see a ring of black and purple blotchy bruising around his soulmate's neck – someone had tried to _strangle_ Tobirama, and _fuck_ , that explained the confusion and glassy eyes. It was oxygen deprivation. Shit. Madara needed to get him somewhere safe _now_ and get him patched up - though he was willing to bet Tobirama wouldn’t want anyone else to know he was at Madara’s. The ringing of his cell phone jerked him from his plans and it was only the sight of Kuro’s name that made him answer.

“What?” his sister’s voice was strained on the other end when she replied “You’re with someone right? Taking them to safety? Your place?” he blinked concern growing in him as he watched Tobirama watch him silently “Yeah” “Good, get _out_ of there, hurry, something is going to happen- I think the Shimura find them- and take everything that matter to whoever it is, they won’t be coming back.” Madara swore viciously “How long do I have?” he asked, jerking to his feet. “Half an hour, maybe a bit more” Kuro said, strain clear in her voice “Alright, on it” he snapped, hanging up the phone without bothering to say good bye and stepping closer to his soulmate trying not to think about the way the albino stiffened. “Darling we need to _go_ , what matters to you that we can’t leave behind?”

“Go?” Tobirama whispered

Madara nodded and the former Senju stared at him for a long moment before standing jerkily and turning to the monitors “The duffle” he said softly and Madara bit his lip before turning to look at the rest of the room. It was…heartbreaking. Almost empty and clean of any real personal touches all the furniture and old and shabby and the low bed was piled with an obscene amount of blankets- it must get cold down here in the winter- and Madara drew in a slow breath and five years of techniques to control his temper and grief; none of that would be useful here, he had to focus, getting Tobirama safe was the only thing that mattered. The duffel was old and a bit battered but Tobirama had already packed most everything - he must have known he might have to clear out quickly. As he tugged the stubborn zipper closed a small wooden box fell out and he only just managed to catch it before it hit the floor; the lid shifted and Madara froze at the sight of silver and red – all the jewelry that Tobirama wasn’t wearing, all the jewelry _Madara_ had given him, tucked away in a box that his brother made and Madara just couldn’t- he- _fuck_ , this was _not_ the time.

Duffel closed he turned back to the screens just in time to see Tobirama throw a small knife expertly into each of them (that was way hotter than Madara should be thinking about right now), electronics shorting out. He turned and pointed at a tangle of wires and hard drives and Madara swept them into the duffel, checking his phone and swearing as he saw how much time had passed and then swearing again when Tobirama swayed dangerously; they needed to get out of here.

“You ready to go Tobira?” he murmured, feeling a little sick at the sluggish blinking that got him before the albino nodded and made to move for the back entrance only for Madara to jerk forward and catch his arm as he almost fell. He was panting in pain and Madara felt his own eyes stinging in helpless fury, but there was nothing to do now but get both of them out of here, so he tucked his soulmate’s worryingly thin body against his side and maneuvered both of them out the back door, duffel slung over his other shoulder. If only he could have brought a car, it would have attracted far too much attention to do so though, and it didn’t matter, he was going to get his soulmate home and taken care of and back where Madara could see to it that he was never in this situation again – all he had to do was get them both home.


	9. benediction

Tobirama felt as though he was moving through oil; slick and confusing - why had Madara - a dream he had before - but Madara had never looked so _sad_ in Tobirama’s dreams before - and he was warm against – ribs hurt and his head was swimming - he _couldn’t breath_ – everything was blurry and that wasn’t as good a dream as – it was insulting to dream this when he was at his worst – always before he had – oh, the air was cold – been looking at least a little nice, not in ragged five year – _ow! Fuck ow_ – old clothing looking so terrible, he had wanted to be pretty if he saw Madara – warmth Madara went away, the world was spinning – his head hurt – he didn’t want to be such a mess – but Madara was here and _looking_ at him, so it _must_ be a dream – had to be – oh that hurt – he could lean on Madara if it was a dream – Madara would never say “ ** _we_** _have to go_ ” – so if he was dreaming he shouldn’t hurt so much and –

The former Senju swayed on his feet; dizzy and ill from lack of air, almost falling until Madara returned to his side and gathered him up to slip them into the building he had locked-picked his way into. He shivered as the Uchiha returned to his side, leaning into that broader man with a faint relived sigh, he was tired, and his head hurt and – “Ok darling, just a little farther, I promise. You’ve done so good so far, just hold on a little longer” Tobirama nodded dizzily, docile and quiet in his disorientation and hypoxia – for now at least he was too tired to question anything and…well, it was _nice_ to have Madara treating him like this; like when they were together but, _gentler_ somehow (which was good, Tobirama didn’t think he could stand up to his soulmate’s rough edges the way he used to) and Tobirama was going to enjoy _every damn second_ of it until things started to make sense again. Resolved he nodded firmly to himself and then winced as the motion sent his head swimming – ugh, note to self don’t do that again.

It wasn’t hard to just follow Madara’s lead- it never had been, Tobirama was fairly sure that Madara had always thought that the albino was the one running ahead but he had _always_ followed Madara’s lead, always looked to him for the boundaries he couldn’t give himself (until he had to learn, until he had no option)- and he let the older man gently lead him through the dark building and then out onto a street, swaying and sagging into the Uchiha as the dark haired man looked around and hailed a cab for them. Dimly Tobirama wondered where they were going, in his dreams they always went back to the lake (back to that summer when everything seemed charmed and golden) but he had never dreamed like this before; with his much pain or exhaustion so maybe it was the start of a new kind of dream? That would be nice. Fuck he was tired.

(Tobirama had had the same dream for so long that the idea of something new was truly tantalizing as much as he loved the old dream; loved the sound of Madara calling to him and waking him up with his blade-sharp smile, loved the hand that Madara held out to him every time, pulling him from his bed and leading him away back to the summer they shared. But his soulmate never spoke in his dream, never said a single word and this dream might be darker and sadder but it was _worth it_ if it meant hearing Madara’s voice.)

* * *

Madara was more than a little surprised when Tobirama tipped over as they settled in the cab, dropping his white head onto the Uchiha’s lap without a sound- Madara wasn’t sure at all that Tobirama was tracking anything right now- and shivering as he went limp. Madara bit his lip, he didn’t want Tobirama to go to sleep, not until Madara could get him hooked up to some oxygen (yes he had a machine at home, he had a lot of stuff in his home like that, he _hated_ staying in the hospital longer than absolutely he had too) but at the same time it was painful to watch Tobirama’s glazed over eyes so maybe it would be alright until they got to him home – it wasn’t a long drive at this point anyway. Slowly, uncertain if he was allowed but unable to resist, Madara dropped a bread hand on the wild white hair; it was so unlike what Madara remembered, still think and coarser than the Uchiha’s fine hair but without the length and dyed tips that Tobirama had had as long as Madara remembered it gave him a completely different look. It was funny but even though his look back then had been far more punk with the hair and so many piercings if looked much more wild now; like a feral great cat, something ghostly and untamable, as likely to claw as purr, it hurt a little to see and Madara wished- well. he had lots of things he wished when it came to Tobirama didn’t he? so many regrets.

“We’re here” the voice of the cabbie pulled him out of his thoughts and Madara swiped payment before coaxing a sluggish Tobirama out of the car and up the drive to the manor. It was a bitter mix to see Tobirama in the home Madara had always dreamed of having with him; his soulmate was _here_ but he was hurt and hurting and Madara didn’t even know if he _wanted_ to be here or if he just didn’t think he had a choice. Was Tobirama going to want to leave as soon as he thought he could? Madara was fairly sure that he didn’t think Madara was ok with him, a wound that deep would take a long time to heal and who knew if trust could ever be rebuilt – though had there ever been the trust between them Madara wanted? Could that ever have existed with the words on Tobirama’s back? Had the Senju ever truly trusted him?

The Uchiha took a deep breath, this wasn’t the time, he could deal with that later, for now he needed to get his soulmate safe and comfortable and everything would come after that, it had to. With that in mind he lead the still docile albino deeper into the house and upstairs to the guestroom closest to Madara’s room (he wanted so badly to tuck Tobirama away in his bed, to wrap his soulmate in the blankets Madara slept in but he wasn’t going to push something like that without Tobirama knowing, that would be too much), gently pulling off the slender man’s boots and coaxing the sweatshirt over his head only to startle at the sight of his bare chest (he hadn’t realized Tobirama wasn’t wearing a shirt), gods…Tobirama was well past slender and into _thin_ , the thin that spoke of too little calories for the amount he burned and his chest was marked with _so many_ scars – the mark of his years as Hiraishin probably but it _hurt_ to see (Madara couldn’t let himself think about the scars on Tobirama’s nipples, he _couldn’t._ It was unsurprising Tobirama had had them pierced but…fuck put that together with all the other small missing piercings and the scars where they had been and- _Madara couldn’t think about this_ \- if someone had intentionally _pulled-_ fuck, no, not now).

Breathing slow and deep he helped the albino into one of Madara’s sweaters- the softest he could find- and gently pushed him back onto the blankets, leaving the sweatpants as they were (he was going to respect Tobirama’s privacy, he never would have taken the sweatshirt off if he had realized there was nothing under it) and promising himself to come back and deal with the wounds there later after Tobirama was on oxygen – he was going to have to call in someone to look his soulmate over, as much as he hated it he didn’t really have a choice as this point. (Madara was careful to keep his eyes away whenever he might have seen the words on Tobirama’s back; the albino had always been so careful about keeping him from seeing them and Madara – Madara knew himself now, the way he hadn’t then, if he saw them now after all of this he wouldn’t be able to focus the way he needed to.)

Once Tobirama was settled and hooked to oxygen Madara took a deep breath and removed himself from the room, leaving the door open a little so he could hear it if something happened but talking on the phone wouldn’t disturbed Tobirama’s sleep; he needed to get a feel for what was going on and call his aunt to come take a look at his soulmate- she would keep her council and he was sure she wouldn’t breath a word to anyone of Tobirama’s presence- and neither would keep at the moment. There was work to do.


	10. dishonor

Tobirama swam through a sepia haze, yearning for the return of the blazing-warm-gentle ( _when had there last been gentle touch?_ ) callused hands ( _Madara?_ ) even as thinner hands brushed over him in a business like fashion, fussing over his throat and legs and the gash on his arm ( _Madara? what-_ ) the tightness of bandages pulling painfully and the pinch of an IV sliding in his arm soon drowned out the pain ( _Madara!? What was going on? Madara! Hel-_ ) and dragging him under into velveteen darkness.

* * *

Madara sighed tiredly as Izuna spoke over the phone “Madara I don’t know what to tell you this information… if it’s good-“ “It _is_ Izuna, how many times do I have to tell you-“ “I know you trust your source, but Madara stuff like this doesn’t just _fall into our hands_ , it’s too convenient." Madara rubbed at his eyes, he didn’t want to be doing this, he wanted to be sitting next to his soulmate watching him _breath_ and instead he was trying to convince Izuna to listen for once (and wow, didn't that bring back memories). “Look, Izu, act like it is completely trustworthy, tell me what we’re looking at.” There was a long pause and then Izuna blew out an aggravated breath “Ok, so the drive was clean, no viruses or anything, no booby traps and the encryption was just enough to make us work for it without being too hard, a puzzle more than anything”

There was a frown in the younger Uchiha’s voice as he continued and Madara stared out the dark window of his study at the gate to the street “I don’t know how it was collected, but it’s mostly fragments of documents; collections of contracts with hired thugs and some business stuff- for instance the Shimura are buying up a hell of a lot of iron these days- so it’s hard to get a complete picture but. Madara. Shimura are planning something. You know how Eyes-in-the Sky and the Uchiha with foresight have been prompting Geas given early with this generation? Like Kagami. And the new Geas all seem different? softer, less powerful somehow. Well if what I can see here is any indication it has to do with the Shimura. Madara some Geas come from matriarchs- like our family- but there are also Goddess given Geas-“ “Like Hashirama” Madara murmured.

“Exactly. And, well, Tobirama, I know it’s not- not quite a Geas, but that was a Goddess as well. So, Madara, Goddesses can give out far more Geas than mortals, but they come with a more strict and powerful Taboo as well right? But what if there was a way to get around the Taboo? What if you could have the strength with no limit? Konoha’s Geas quotient only stared blowing up _after_ the Shimura showed up. I don’t know how we never made that connection, it’s a stupid thing to have missed. And now they are given younger and the Shimura are buying up iron? Now they had hired the Gold and Silver brothers and those two have _strange_ Geas, powerful and odd, twisted. Now the Family is trying to track anyone in the City that can give out Geas?”

Madara swallowed hard, beginning to see the pattern Izuna was outlining. “You think they have a plan to-“

“-I think they have a way to break Taboo without loosing Geas. I think they found a way to do it here and that's why they came to Konoha, I think they have been giving everyone they can Geas to experiment with – after all why not if you think you can get past the Taboo? I think they might have been part of making the Gold and Silver brothers and now they think they know how to implement it on a large scale, large enough that they want to know every Geas in this City and control it.”

“ _F_ _uck_ ” he whispered “that would explain Zetsu getting the hell out of here too. That thing relies too much on whatever fucked up Geas he has to want to stick around if the Shimura are going to be messing with Geas on a citywide scale.”

Izuna hummed softly on the other side of the line. “Do we – do we have any hard proof or is it just the pattern the info makes?” Madara asked and Izuna made a grumpy noise “No hard proof- after all I don’t even think we can trust your sorce- but….Madara it fits. It fits _everything_ and we both know that. I just, Mada’ what do we do?” his voice was quiet and afraid and Madara – fuck Madara didn’t blame him. The Gold and Silver brothers were _wrong,_ something unnatural and shattered in them, something gone wrong and Madara had once heard that they had killed their soulmates and – no Uchiha in the _world_ wanted that, would ever want to run the risk of being like that even if it brought some kind of greater power. It wouldn’t be worth it. And that was ignoring the problem of a bunch of overpowered criminals running around the city (they would burn it to the ground and then try to expand, it was what people like that did) or the question of how the Shimura thought they could do this? What was hidden in Konoha that could break the oldest power? That could subvert the strength of women’s will and bloody protection and old promises?

(Madara remembered his mother. She had been a Matriarch, she had burned with the need to keep safe- her family, herself, her home- she had been the sort to burn the world in the wish for retribution. The Geas she gavehad been strong but painful, a gift but with a vow as tight as any soulmates bond, as strong as her Will before she had turned to the Goddess and walked into the Lady’s light as her flame burned out in a terrible blaze. Madara was the last Geas she had given and his…it was so very strong and so very cruel- he often thought that she must have known at least a little that he would break his Taboo, that he would someday hurt his Heart and bloody the best thing he had on the blade of his pride. The idea of something that could subvert her Will and go against the ferocity of her Comand….it was something he had a hard time imagining.)

“Izu – _Lieutenant_ , contact Eyes-in-the-Sky, get them looking this over but only our most trusted. If Shimura can do all this I don’t want to bank on them not having moles in the Core. Double check what you have then lock it down and go home, this isn’t going to blow up tomorrow, the brothers aren’t back in town yet, so we have a day at least. We’re going to need all hands on deck soon, so get some rest.” Izuna made an acquiescing noise and Madara hung up, tipping his head to look up at the ceiling, fuck. But there was nothing he could do of worth tonight, he was too distracted now to make any progress, better to be near Tobirama and then try to buckle down tomorrow.

“Madara” a weathered voice called, and he looked over into his aunt’s dark eyes. She was looking at him thoughtfully but said nothing of her thoughts as she filled him in on Tobirama’s condition and what needed to be done, it wasn’t as bad as he feared but it _was_ worse than he hoped. He showed her to the door and then detoured to the kitchen the throw together a sandwich and grab a beer before returning to drop into the armchair he had pulled up next to Tobirama and take on pale long-fingered hand, rubbing at the strong knuckles and refusing to look at the pile of notes on the side table; he knew enough about what had happened to Tobirama in the last years now to know that anything other than the overview his aunt had given him would be too much (and anyway Tobirama should be the one that got to decide if Madara knew the details). For now this was everything, this right here with his soulmate tucked up in Madara’s home where he was safe and warm was enough. And if later he was allowed to try and prove that he deserved more, that he had changed enough to be worthy of Tobirama the way he hadn’t been before, if he was given the gift of another chance it would be nothing short of the kind of miracle Madara knew better then to expect – devoutly to be wished but not a certainty (Madara would fight for Tobirama, the way he never had understood he should before, back when he thought being soulmates was enough to keep a relationship strong and whole. Back when he had believed that love was enough to make up for trust. He wouldn’t make that mistake this time.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes on where I took the ideas for Geas from:  
> In Irish, a geas (alternatives: geis, géis, deas; plural geasa) is an idiosyncratic taboo, whether of obligation or prohibition, similar to being under a vow. The plural geasa is also used to mean specifically a spell prohibiting some action, common in Irish folklore and mythology.
> 
> A geas can be compared with a curse or, paradoxically, a gift. If someone under a geas violates the associated taboo, the infractor will suffer dishonor or even death. On the other hand, the observing of one's geas is believed to bring power. Often it is women who place geasa upon men. In some cases the woman turns out to be a goddess or other sovereignty figure.
> 
> The geas is often a key device in hero tales, such as that of Cúchulainn in Irish mythology. Traditionally, the doom of heroes comes about due to their violation of their geas, either by accident, or by having multiple geasa and then being placed in a position where they have no option but to violate one geas in order to maintain another. For instance, Cúchulainn has a geas to never eat dog meat, and he is also bound by a geas to eat any food offered to him by a woman. When a hag offers him dog meat, he has no way to emerge from the situation unscathed; this leads to his death.
> 
> [From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geas]


	11. anathema

Tobirama didn’t remember waking, only that he slid from the depths and saw a dark head leaning over him, long feathery hair brushing against his hand and arms. The dream spoke softly to him though the words didn’t penetrate the fuzzy static at the edges of his mind (why had he been under sedation? _How_ had he been under sedation, it had been so long since he had access to that). Tobirama blinked and the world shifted between one moment and the next. There was still a soft vignette to the world and he stared at the ceiling, the dark crown molding oddly fascinating against the indigo ceiling. It was a long time ( _was it?_ ) before he realized he could feel gentle puffs of air on his hand and turned his head with great difficulty to look.

There was someone next to him. A dark soft head tipped over by his ribcage (that was going to hurt later) and the soft breaths puffing against his arm were warm. It took a very long time for what he was seeing started to penetrate the fog filling his head; was that-? That was Uchiha hair (right?), but what was an Uchiha (Mad-) doing next to him? And why the IV and pain killers? He didn’t even seem to be tied down. Tobirama’s eyes narrowed slightly in confusion, emotions forced distant by the surreal aura of good painkillers. He didn’t know where he was. There was an Uchiha sleeping next to him (or at least someone that looked like one). Which meant they trusted him not to do anything – if they didn’t they would never sleep. They would set a watch over him. They would never trust that injuries would keep him harmless – the Uchiha knew better and it wasn’t like he wasn’t recognizable. He wasn’t tied down. He didn’t feel threatened. He was being given an IV and he thought maybe he was bandaged.

He felt…..( _safe?_ )

He wanted…( _Madara_ )

He looked at the dark head, saw it shift, stir, come up slowly ( _his eyes were soft and heavy, made velvet and warm with fading sleep as he pursed his mouth a little and gave himself a tiny shake like a dog waking; there was only one person – Madar-_ ) and Tobirama took one look at liquid eyes and slammed his own shut throwing himself back into the depths of his mid and the call of the warmth of pain killers.

He wasn’t ready for this.

Would he ever be ready?

Once upon a time he thought he could prepare .

Before

_Tobirama knew better. He did. But he could help himself and surged up into Izuna’s face “Fuck you Izuna, you don’t know **shit** about me-“ “Oh don’t I?! I know what you are. I know what you want, I know you think that you can get whatever you want from my brother!” Fury slammed through Tobirama, how **dare** Izuna say that about him?! How dare he when Tobirama was running such risk. When **Tobirama** was the one with so much on the line and a promise of heartbreak on his back._

_“You think I’m using Madara?” he snapped and Izuna sneered at him, “Oh fuck you, you aren’t worth the ground he walks on, you’re just stringing him along. Just like you **always** have. Play hard to get until Madara is so sure that you’re his soulmate he’ll do anything for you!” as if, Madara would never do anything for him, not even stay in relationship. Not even try not to break his heart. Still…Tobirama hissed like an angry cat slamming a hand into Izuna’s chest “And you think what? that I’ve tricked Madara into thinking I’m his soulmate? As if **you** would know “ his voice was vicious and cruel, (he should have known better) “because your Geas is so helpful, so strong, so powerful, good enough for you to stand at your brother’s side, good enough to have been given by your **mother** ” it was a cheep shot. Tobirama **knew** that (it was why he said it after all). Tobirama knew that Izuna was sensitive about his Geas, about how it hadn’t come from their mother (about whether she hadn’t cared as much about him – hadn’t waited for him), about how much less powerful it was than his brother’s -than Tobirama’s- but he was angry and hurt and bitter and just – there was very little kindness left in him and what he had went to his soulmate and choosing to forgive him every day for the words Tobirama **knew** he would say._

_Izuna reeled back as if Tobirama had hit him, face twisting in an ugly mix of hurt and fury “And you are **freak**?!” he snarled and Tobirama smiled a slow cat’s smile “At least I can keep up” he purred (he had always been just that little bit too bitter, a little to ready to attack without proper reason). Izuna went white and then red “You are nothing! You’re a liar and a cheat and my brother deserves **better** than and emotionless, arrogant, forgotten, unwanted piece of filth like you! even your brother knows that.” Tobirama went cold all the way down to his bones; it wasn’t like Izuna was wrong was the thing, he had the words on his back to prove it and his brother’s voice ringing in his ears (“Why are you doing this Tobi! You can’t keep stringing Madara along like this! he deserves – deserves – better than - from - you!” Hashi had gone white and stumbled over his words but Tobirama hadn’t been there to hear, already out the door even as Hashirama’s taboo kicked in)._

_Izuna wasn’t wrong._

_Fine. If that was what they thought of him._

_Tobirama’s Geas snapped out of him with the sound of breaking glass and blazing liquid white light, it snapped and reached, pulling at the air in front of Izuna like the claws of a great cat. The Uchiha staggered backwards towards the subway tracks and Tobirama chased, hurt and wounded and not even hearing the voice behind him (“To’ra!”); his Geas (always a little broken) lashed out of his control (always tenuous) and Izuna threw himself back again, and aging, and teetered on the edge of the platform. It seemed to happen from far away._

_Izuna wavered._

_Tobirama’s out of control, hurting power lashed out._

_Madara raced past him for his brother._

_Tobirama’s power twisted away (even now he would not hurt his soulmate)._

_Izuna **fell**._

_Madara leaped after his brother and Tobirama raced for the edge, Izuna was crumpled in a heap on the **iron** tracks moaning in pain, leg twisted – clearly broken in several places. Tobirama was shaking from backlash eve as Madara called for help and tried to sooth his brother; in a rush the albino jumped down to see if he could help, Madara’s head came up, eyes angry and confused “What just **happened**?!” he snapped and Tobirama hesitated, uncertain (as he always was) and Izuna spoke through pained tears “He pushed me. We were talking – I was trying to make sure – make sure that he wasn’t trying to string you along” (“you can’t keep stringing him along!”) “he lashed out, pushed me” Izuna’s eyes were glazed with pain and the thoughtless fury but – but…he wasn’t wrong was he? (was he?)_

_Madara’s face twisted in fury as he looked at Tobirama, his brother cradled in his arms “You **pushed** my brother?” Tobirama shifted, wanted to move closer “I – no – I” he stuttered. But. Izuna wasn’t wrong was he? the words on his back burned. Static filled his head and he couldn’t seem to make out the words Madara was saying- angry denials, demands for an explanation- or what he said in response (stuttered words about how it wasn’t his fault and Izuna had set it up and Madara was a fool for trusting- Tobirama was just that little bit too bitter, a little too ready to attack without proper reason, claws to ready, to automatic). But **the words** came through clear and clean “ **You mean nothing to me, whatever we were to each other is dead”** and oh. oh. Tobirama had thought he was prepared. Had thought- well._

_He had been wrong._

_Glassy red eyes stared at Madara in the ringing silence, even Izuna’s face going white and afraid, Tobirama just…looked at his soulmate. Just looked. Izuna was right. Hashirama was right. **Madara** was right. Something in Tobirama’s face just...drained away. Something kind and alive and on fire just went out and he looked pale as ice, empty and **resigned**. He didn’t make a sound just turned and left, vanishing into the dark tunnels far to fast for someone so pale._

* * *

_Madara doubled over, his eyes burning and aching and bleeding as the taboo strained and twisted. The Uchiha was hardly aware of his brother shaking him, yelling abut going after Tobirama, (he thought he said something about finding him later? It wouldn’t be too hard, he knew where Tobirama went when he was upset) but Izuna said Tobirama had pushed him – but still had to go after him? Why had Tobirama-? Why had his soulmate betrayed him? Was Izuna **right**? Tobirama had refused to let Madara in over and over and over even though they were soulmates. _

_His head was screaming and his Geas was twisting like glass cooled to fast, stretching and fracturing and – oh god his head. EMTs dropped down to the tracks and Izuna was moved to a stretcher, their faces grim as they examined his leg but Madara could hardly think, didn’t really feel the hands helping him up, out, into an ambulance, and IV sliding in, blissful emptiness._

_He came to slowly, the pain was over but he could feel his Geas quivering like a beaten animal and everything in him felt like it was weeping – what-? A narrow back fading into an echoing tunnel. Tobirama? What-? He was angry but it was overcome by the pain, by – a broken taboo, a **broken taboo**. No! He was going to find Tobirama, figure out what happened, understand why Tobirama had hurt Izuna – he wasn’t the kindest person ever but he wouldn’t do that on purpose! He was going to **find** him; it was going to be ok! He hadn’t broken his taboo (hadn’t ruined his heart) he was going to figure this out he was – _

_“Madara.”_

_no_

_“it’s all but broken. He’s gone.”_

_no_

_no_

Madara woke with a jerk, the days and _days_ and **_days_** spent looking for his soulmate fading as he realized Tobirama was shifting; the Uchiha lurched to his feet and leaned over, murmuring to blurry red eyes “It’s ok, it’s ok, you’re safe To’ra- Tobirama, you’re safe. Can you hear me? You’re safe darling” keeping up the soft words until his soulmates eyes slid shut again, sliding into the embrace of pain killers. That was – that was good. It was. Tobirama needed rest, Madara could wait to talk to him, he had grown patient over the years; had learned what it meant to have wait, to persevere, to hold steady. Tobirama was worth waiting for, had always been even in the dark days he was sure his soulmate had died and _clung_ to his Words.

He sat back and scrubbed at his eyes, it was early, very early, and Madara still don’t know what to do. He had to go to HQ but he couldn’t leave Tobirama on his own- not wounded as he was- and the only people that knew the Senju was here were himself, the medic, and maybe Kuro (it was always had to tell what she knew) and Madara wanted to keep it like that until he knew what Tobirama wanted and that his soulmate could defend himself. And there was no way in _hell_ he was telling Hashirama, not after the way the Senju had broken down after his brother vanished; the way Hashirama- in typical fashion- had wallowed in his grief and guilt rather than try to look for Tobirama, rather than see that other people were hurting (it had broken something in their relationship, some of Madara’s respect for the other man, and even after Mito came into his life and _forced_ Hashirama to grow up and grow better- she said Hashirama wasn’t worthy of her, Madara had all but worshiped her for taking the Senju down a few, _several_ , pegs- before she would so much as _look_ at him things had never been quite the same).

So what to do? what _could_ he do? He needed to prioritize his soulmate- had to do what he hadn’t before- but Tobirama wouldn’t exactly be pleased if the whole city came down around their heads either. Madara scrubbed at his face again and set about checking Tobirama’s vitals- he could do that at least- there were still a few hours, he could sleep a bit longer and then call Kuro, maybe she would have advice.


	12. pledge

There was hand cupping his cheek, broad palm warm and gentle ( _gentle_ , how long had it been since-) as the hand brushed up, fingers tunneling into his hair ( _Madara-?_ ) and rubbing gently around his ear. “Sleep darling, I’ll be back as soon as I can, just rest until then, get strong, you need to be strong To’ra, you need to be safe. I’ll be back as soon as I can, no matter what if you need me I’ll come back for you.” the voice was warm and deep and ( _Madara- no, couldn’t be_ ) _gentle_ and despite himself Tobirama slipped down again ( _he felt safe, why.._ )

* * *

Madara looked at Tobirama’s sleeping face, the faint scars and sharp red lines and tension around his eyes even now; he wished that Tobirama had woken up all the way, or at least for longer than he had earlier when he dropped off as soon as Madara woke. Sighing he pulled back, resisting the urge to kiss Tobirama’s high cheek, he didn’t know if the touch would be welcome, Madara had to wait, he could wait, Kuro said it would be alright if he left for the morning, had promised that she would watch over his ‘friend’ and tell him if his ‘friend’ woke. It was the best he was going to get, and he would have to trust his sister in this, there wasn’t any good choice and the Manor was heavily protected, Tobirama would be ok. He _had_ to be ok, it would kill Madara if he failed his soulmate again.

The Uchiha shook himself hard and brushed his hand through thick white hair one last time, it was time to go. Still it was _painful_ to leave his sleeping soulmate behind, he couldn’t stop seeing the look on Tobirama’s face when Madara said – said those words to him, the way it had looked to see Tobirama vanish into the dark and deep and never see him again. But this was _different_ , it had to be, he wouldn’t let it be anything else and the slow way his Geas was smoothing out, the reducing ach in his eyes told him that there _was_ hope even if only a little. It was time to take care of the city so that Tobirama had a place to be safe in; if for no other reason that was enough.

HQ was humming when he arrived and wound his way to the hub, large screens and softly whirring computers filling the clean white space with life as the warm light emanated from the walls and floor to be kinder on Uchiha eyes. Kuro glanced at him thoughtfully from the glassed in office near the door and he nodded to her, returning her small pleased smile even as he wanted to frown at the fact that she was here and not at the top of the tower with the rest of Eyes-in-the-Sky; damn it. He knew this was bad but, damn it. “Major” Izuna called from his high stool at the central console “What’s status Izuna?” Madara asked as he drew level (it looked like Izuna had been here for a while already, not ideal but not surprising given Izuna’s abiding guilt (( _if he hadn’t lied-_ ))).

“We’ve been doing some digging and- I have to admit that it looks like your info is good. Tracing the cellphones of the lower level Shimura minions they have definitely been compiling a map of Geas in the city – and a fuck-load of lower level unaffiliated Geas have just vanished. Probably into the warehouses that it looks like the Shimura have been lining with iron” (“why is it _always_ warehouses?” Madara muttered) “so best guess, they’ve been taking people that won’t be noticed… _experimenting_ on them; I didn’t realize how many small Geas there were running around but it seems like we were right and the Shimura seeded them out for later use. Either way as far as we- and Eyes- can tell there are no low level unaffiliated Geas left in the city, all that’s left are Family or people like the Uchiha and Hashirama that are strong enough to be missed.”

Madara swore under his breath, “So they’re reaping is what you’re saying?” he asked and Izuna nodded “And what about the tracking of Geas givers?” “As far as we can tell all the disposable ones have been vanishing as well but, well, there aren’t that many of them. Luckily.” Madara sighed, fuck, he just wanted to go home to his sleeping soulmate. “Ok, ok, so. the Shimura have an army that may or may not be overpowered and will at least have cannon fodder, we don’t know what the other Families are doing but it’s a good bet that the Shimura have them in their control which means they have more people to throw at us. On top of that they are cooking up a way to fuck up the Geas of everyone in the city. Shit. Kuro, do we know anything about how long we have before whatever they are doing comes to a head?”

Kuro slipped closer from where she had been leaning against her office, her dark Uchiha hair tied back in a high tail shifting as she moved “I don’t know for sure- my focus is directed elsewhere-” Madara sent her a grateful glance “but the other Eyes think we have a little time to gather before the storm; days at most” Madara closed his eyes and tipped his head back, reaching for his Geas and feeling the slightly less brittle parts for comfort “A pitched battle then” he said. Kuro hesitated and then nodded softly “A storm is normally sign of a battle not just police action” she sounded tired and Izuna was pale; “Alright. We need information about the Shimura’s forces and what their plan is- or at least where it is- and then we need to gather forces and get ready.”

Kuro looked at him and said softly, “You should go, we can aggregate info for today and set up the prep to call up forces – no need to do that yet and run the risk of giving the Shimura warning” Gratitude washed over Madara in a deep wave, and he touched her shoulder before turning and moving swiftly out, ignoring Izuna’s questions, Kuro could figure out what to tell him. Was it foolish to leave HQ in the middle of a crisis? Yes. Definitely. But others could carry it for now and it was time he made good on putting Tobirama first.

Stepping into the Manor was relief- it all seemed safe and stable- and he check the house as he moved towards Tobirama’s room glancing around with Geas spinning slowly in his eyes as he absently moved into the door way, distracted by looking into another room until a sharp intaken breath snapped his eyes to the center of the room. Startled red eyes stared back at him. Tobirama was _awake_.


	13. covenant

When Tobirama woke up the next time he was alone but no less comfortable; honestly it was sort of nice to be alone to look around without having to pay attention to someone else, and it was…comforting a bit to see he was alone, no watch set on him, no cameras in the room. Even the door was open, and he wasn’t restrained; even the IV stand had wheels on it that were large enough to move over the thick carpet, clearly he wasn’t being punished, nothing was holding him that he needed to be afraid of. And, well, the room was _beautiful_ , the dark wood of the crown molding was echoed in the floor and the panels that reached halfway up the walls- even the large sleigh bed matched-, someone with great taste had done the room, the pale gray of the walls lightened a room that could have been dark with the indigo celling and rug and it was just-. Why had he been put in a room so nice? And where was he anyway? He would remember a room this nice, especially given that what he could see of the hallway was just as well appointed in a slightly dark heavy way (it was comforting, the darker colors were calming to him and the heavy furniture he could see was reassuring in a way he couldn’t explain).

Slowly he levered himself out of the bed, moving slowly at he was abruptly reminded of his wounds, fuck, ouch. He sat for a long moment at he edge of the bed, tipping forward to tuck his head until his blood pressure rose enough that his vison stopped swimming; he probably shouldn’t be getting up yet– especially without anyone around to help him if he fell- but he needed to find a washroom for now. He moved slowly and leaned on the sturdy metal of the IV as he moved through the room, stepping into the hall carefully, watchful for movement or any sign that he wasn’t alone; silence, nothing moving in the shadows, he truly did seem to be alone (why-?). Still he kept his senses alert and was greatly relived to find a washroom directly across from the room he was in, there was even towels laid out on the counter and a pair of worn soft looking pants; was this an attempt at brainwash? _Why?_ He wasn’t important enough for that and especially to the Uchiha. Oh well, the chance to wash- even if he had to work around the IV- wasn’t something to sniff at no matter the reasoning.

Much relaxed and considerably more shaky Tobirama made his way back to the room he had been installed in, tugging at the waist of the pants; they were roughly the right length but the waist was to large for his narrow frame which made it awkward and a relief to settle into the bed again. Fuck he almost didn’t care why he was there if it was this comfortable (unless it was the Shimura – but he was sure that – that – that Madara-), he had given the Uchiha what they needed to deal with the Shimura, everything else was immaterial. Tobirama sighed and curled tightly in the center of the bed, drifting until the sharp sound of a door closing and steps on the stairs jolted him up, scrambling into the far corner of the bed and coiling for an attack.

A broad shouldered man stepped into the room, a long ( _so long_ ) spill of feathery dark hair over one shoulder as he looked down the hall and then -. The man turned. Red spinning eyes tinged with purple. Startlingly fine boned features and a strong jaw. Firm strong hands. _Madara_.

Madara

“Madara” a shivering whisper

He felt simultaneously like there was ice in his veins and as though he had been dunked in warm water (it was odd how comforting even the sight of this man was, as thought some how after the axe had fallen it had been easier – easier when he was no long _waiting_ for the pain, the attack, the betrayal. After all it was already done, already over, no more waiting). Madara froze at the door, licking his lips (why was he nervous?) and raising his hands slightly to show he was unarmed; as if Tobirama was foolish enough to think Madara was ever without his greatest wepon. One pale eyebrow rose without Tobirama’s input and Madara grimaced, looking chagrined as his eyes faded to warm onyx (why wasn’t he attacking?) and he took a deep breath, hesitated and then said “Are you ok? Are you in pain? Do you need anything?” that was not was he had been about to say Tobirama was sure but – well, he didn’t have any right to say anything anymore did he?

“I…I’m fine.” He murmured, suddenly very conscious of the rasp of his voice and lowered volume (he had never been as loud as he used to be after the smoke when he went after that stupide diadem and the Core set the building on fire) though it was possible that Madara would write it off as the damage to his throat. Madara slanted a look at him and said quietly “That’s not what you were going to say” Tobirama shivered and looked away; how strange that they should still know each other so well after so long, Madara must hate that. The albino hesitated for a moment and Madara shifted to lean against the wall, waiting for Tobirama to decide what to say and – maybe not, maybe they didn’t know each other that much after all, the Madara Tobirama had known would be pushing; for answers, into his space, rushing to punish, not waiting with seeming patience. It was that more than anything else that made him speak

“I’m sorry”

It was nothing more than a thin whisper but the words felt as though it had been dragged out from deep inside him; dragged gagging out of his throat, feeling as though he was vomiting out old blood, an iron tang and thick pain dripping from his lips. And fuck wasn’t he a coward? He couldn’t even look Madara- look his _soulmate-_ in the eyes as he apologized; Madara deserved that and Tobirama just. couldn’t.

* * *

Seeing Tobirama looking back him felt like it should bring him joy and it _did_ but – but Tobirama was curled tight and close in the far corner of the bed, eyes watchful and full of the same resignation that Madara had seen right before he disappeared. Madara wasn’t to run forward, wanted to curl his hands around Tobirama’s, to tuck pale soulmate into his arm and keep him close but Tobirama was watching him warily, as though he was just waiting for Madara to – oh! feeling a bit slow he shifted to show his empty hands and then at the unimpressed arch of a brow he realized that his Geas was still active and Tobirama _definitely_ knew what Madara could do with that. Chagrined he shut it off and struggled to figure out what to say; there were _so many_ things he wanted to tell Tobirama, to ask and beg and plead and there was no way that Madara should start with those things, not when the albino looked as though he was about to spring away, about to vanish again. No, he would have to start small, to be careful, he couldn’t scare Tobirama away “Are you ok? Are you in pain? DO you need anything?” he could see the ends of Tobirama’s hair were wet and the IV stand was in a different position so Tobirama must have made it to the washroom but, Madara just wanted something he could _do_ so that he wouldn’t have to swallow down so many words.

“I…I’m fine” Tobirama whispered, voice soft and scratchy from the attempted strangulation and Madara _looked_ at him, really looked; because “That’s not what you were going to say” Tobirama fidgeted, uncomfortable as his eyes drifted to the side, shifting cat like in the bed and Madara forced himself to wait; _patience_ , he had to give Tobirama time, he knew his soulmate, knew that there were times Tobirama needed time to find his words and if pushed would lash out with bared claws. That might have changed over the years but that didn’t mean Madara had to rush him, he knew better now.

After a time Tobirama sagged and said in a shattered voice as if it had been wrenched out of him “I’m sorry” and Madara’s world went very still and very quiet. He licked his lips and stepped away from the wall, words tangled up in him until he could drag the important ones out “Tobirama- To’ra- can I touch you?” Tobirama twitched in a vague way and Madara took that as enough of a yes to move to then bed and drag a shocky looking, shivering Tobirama into his chest, breathing in the scent of his shampoo in the white hair as he tried to find his words. “Tobirama, darling, I- thank you. _Thank you_. But it wasn’t your fault and-“ this wasn’t getting through, it had at first but somehow Tobirama had stopped listening when Madara talked about fault so “-I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry darling. I’m so sorry.” And Madara tucked himself closer, not entirely sure what exactly he was apologizing for now; for what he said? For chasing Tobirama away? For not going after him right away? For letting him live in the cold? For not trying harder? For not protecting him from their brothers? For the words on Tobirama’s back? For _all_ of it?

Tobirama shivered against him and shoved his face into Madara’s neck, nothing so much as like an affectionate cat and Madara – Madara had no idea what was going on in his beautiful head but for now this was a good start, they would figure it out. They had too.


	14. swear

Tobirama wasn’t sure he was following what was happening all the way, but he didn’t care. Madara was here and holding him and so _gentle_ and Tobirama didn’t care why, didn’t care why Madara was deign to touch him after everything, he didn’t care as long as Madara kept touching him so softly; this was all he had wanted for _so long_ he was going to treasure it for as long as he was allowed. (Especially if Madara had accepted his apology, though how could it be so easy? And he could hardly believe that Madara was apologizing to _him_ , was calling him darling and apologizing and holding him and – he must be missing _something_.)

Eventually exhaustion swelled up in him, followed by at wash of nausea that left him shoving his head farther into Madara’s shoulder with a whine; gods he felt _vile_ , but Madara smelled of cloves and pink peppercorn and he was warm and stable and Tobirama didn’t want to move and break the spell. Unfortunately Madara must have heard the sound as he smoothed a hand down Tobirama’s back, “To’ra? What’s wrong?” but the former Senju tucked his head closer and refused to answer even when Madara’s fingers slipped into his hair and rubbed gently above his ears with a soft hum “Nausea?” he asked quietly and Tobirama stilled in surprise - unfortunately giving himself away. Madara hummed again and shifted “Let me get you some pills and something to eat, you need to eat darling” Tobirama dragged himself back, curling into himself and tucking into the smallest shape he could, back to the door (he wouldn’t watch Madara walk away from him).

There was a long pause and then footsteps out the door moving away and Tobirama drifted vaguely; he had apologized, he had had the chance to say that to Madara and that was something he hadn’t ever realized he needed so much – it gnawed at his pride but there was little enough of that left that he could ignore it. It wasn’t like he was apologizing to _Izuna_ ; that he wasn’t sure he could do; it would just be too much, but he hadn’t realized how much he needed to say the words to Madara. If only he knew why Madara was saying it to him.

* * *

Madara took a long moment to lean on his hands against the counter while broth heated, trying to get his heart under control; Tobirama was here. Tobirama was here and tucked in the home Madara had always hoped to share with him. Tobirama was safe for now and while not _well_ he would heal, he would get better. Tobirama…Tobirama had _apologized. Fuck._ Tobirama seemed balanced on some sort of edge and Madara wasn’t enough of a fool to think that a hug and some soft words would be enough to clear things between them; it was unlikely that Tobirama was fully past the painkillers and he was certainly exhausted so Madara couldn’t assume that the way he acted now was how he would act later. There was still so much they had to set to rights, so much they needed to talk about as soon as they could, and they were in only a small oasis of time in the middle of the storm; Madara couldn’t put off the conversation. He needed to get Tobirama feeling a bit better and then sleeping again, then he could call HQ and when Tobirama woke hopefully he would be clear enough to really _talk_. Madara wasn’t going to go into a fight without making it clear to Tobirama that he – that he regretted, that he _wanted_ , that he cared (loved), that whatever forgiveness his soulmate might think he needed he had. If something happened to Madara he wasn’t letting Tobirama run around thinking that Madara didn’t love him, didn’t _want_ him. But first, food, pills, and a nap. One thing at a time

Tobirama was clearly blurry as Madara coaxed him into taking the pills and drinking some broth though he stayed as curled up as possible on the far side of the bed (it made Madara’s heart ache to see proud Tobirama so small and worn, all his instincts were screaming at him to wrap his soulmate up in blankets and keep him somewhere safe and fed and warm. Preferably in Madara’s heavy fourposter bed). Either way the albino settled into sleep easily enough with Madara in the room and didn’t ever stir when the Uchiha reluctantly slipped out to call HQ and for an unsatisfying update. Nothing new had happened, the Gold and Silver brothers weren’t in Konoha yet and there was no new movement, in fact it was eerily calm, so little movement when Madara _knew_ something was going to happen was making Madara restless; the calm before the storm always did. Still it meant that when Tobirama woke up again it wasn’t hard for Madara to turn his attention to his soulmate as the slender man leaned warily in the doorway to his study.

“Help me with this?” Tobirama said softly, his voice still quiet and hoarse. Madara couldn’t help brightening at the question (Tobirama had approached him! Tobirama as asking him for help!) and nodded immediately, moving around the desk to help Tobirama remove the IV carefully and keep pressure on it as Tobirama wrapped it. “I really am sorry” Tobirama murmured as Madara worked. The Uchiha’s hands faltered for a moment; he licked his lips “I am too” carefully he slid his fingers down Tobirama’s arm curled them gently around the narrow wrist, trying to meet the lovely red eyes. “Tobirama, hey, look at me? Please?” but the white head didn’t raise and Madara gently pulled him to the couch in front of the fireplace.

“Tobirama, I-“ how was he supposed to start? “Thank you, but Tobirama I fucked up. Izuna told me the truth later and – shit, To’ra, I should have noticed how bad things had gotten between the two of you. I knew he wasn’t happy, but I never thought he would say things like that – or _lie_ to me about you. He should have known better. He never should have said those things to you and if he was so worried he should have gone to me. I know why he didn’t but, Tobirama, _he was out of line._ You – maybe you weren’t perfect, but darling I always knew you had a temper and _both_ of us knew that your Geas is volatile.” Madara sucked in a deep breath, wishing Tobirama would look at him so he could see what his soulmate was thinking “More than anything To’ra, _I should have listened_ , I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions or said what I did. Gods but I never should have said that to you. I betrayed you that day and I will _always_ hate myself for that.”

Tobirama’s head came up at that and his mouth dropped open, “Madara- no, you didn’t – I knew how protective you are of Izuna, I never should have been baited, I never should have hurt him – knew you would say that” he breathed and Madara’s stomach dropped. “You knew?” he asked softly and Tobirama’s mouth snapped shut as he looked away. “Those are your Words aren’t they” there was a long silence and then Tobirama swallowed hard and nodded “yeah” he whispered and Madara tipped his head back, breathing carefully past the sting in his sinuses “I – I was fairly sure, it fit, but – oh darling I hoped – “ the Uchiha’s throat closed around his words for a long second until long fingers just brushed against his hand before withdrawing “You didn’t know” Tobirama said. Madara laughed bitterly “No, I didn’t, but that’s no excuse. How – how can you stand to look at me? Why did you ever even agree to give us a try at all if you knew I would say that? How can you ever forgive me?” Madara rasped.

Tobirama met his eyes head on for the first time, looking worn and watchful but – but the Tobirama he remembered from then had been like an animal waiting to be hit, afraid and wary and always on guard and harsh for it. Now some of that was gone, it was as if he had found some measure of peace in not living _waiting_ for Madara to destroy his world, as if his claws were sheathed a bit having felt the pain and learned it’s touch. Still wary maybe, still watchful, but – less on edge somehow, no longer waiting for a blow he knew was coming; if only there was less old pain, less resignation, if only it didn’t mean some of his fire was gone. (But Madara wasn’t who he had been then either, he had learned to blunt his edges, to be more careful with what he loved and to wait and listen before he judged, maybe in that he was more tempered as well.) As if knowing what Madara was thinking (always on the same page) Tobirama reached out and brushed one long finger over the lines at Madara’s eyes, “Madara” he said softly “of course I forgive you. I have forgiven you so many times I don’t know how not to anymore. I never could have – given us a chance unless I forgave you every day before, why would it be any different now?”

And Madara felt as though his entire world lurched under his feet. With a choked sound he folded over, dropping his head into Tobirama’s lap under a guiding hand as something deep in him healed over and another tore open (of course, of course, ‘ _forgave him every day’_ ), a moment later thin fingers brushed slowly through his hair, soothing as Madara shook.


	15. fidelity

Tobirama dragged tender fingers through Madara’s feathery hair; it was disconcerting to see this open depth of emotion in a man that Tobirama remembered as hiding all that he felt beneath anger and snarled words. Perhaps they both had changed more than Tobirama thought, perhaps the years had taught Madara some of the same bitter lessons they had taught Tobirama, perhaps they were better for it though Tobirama – well, Tobirama wished quietly in the back of his head that they had learned them together; growing as vines do, closer with every season. But some things weren’t meant to be. Their paths had been laid ever since Tobirama’s Words had carved themselves on his back as a child; no matter what had come before there would always be that: Madara angry and confused, Tobirama hurt and afraid. But this right _now_ , this was nothing that Tobirama had ever anticipated. Madara touching him of his own volition (well, the albino hadn’t completely ruled out brainwashing, though that shouldn’t be possible with Madara’s Geas) and _apologizing_ of all things; it was just…Tobirama had no idea how to handle it. Where to from go from here. What to do next.

He forgave Madara of course but now what? What would happen next? Just because Madara felt…guilty? Responsible? Indebted? (he had always had a soft heart under all his fire and ash) didn’t mean that he wanted Tobirama around or that he wanted…well, anything with Tobirama (in his heart of hearts Tobirama couldn’t ignore how badly he wanted that, how badly he wanted a chance to get to know Madara again now, how badly he wanted his soulmate back. But. Well. why would Madara want that? Especially with Tobirama as he was _now_ ). So for now he had this, had Madara’s apology, had Madara’s head in his lap and that was going to be enough to keep him warm on dark nights. (It had to be)

Eventually Madara stirred, sitting up and swiping at his face with impressive aplomb before he looked at Tobirama with a weak smile, “Sorry to get you all wet To’ra” he said in a hoarse voice. Tobirama couldn’t help the faint smile that pulled at his lips, “I don’t mind” he murmured and Madara’s smile grew stronger, a little firmer, hand rising thoughtlessly to brush the back of his fingers over Tobirama’s sharp cheek. “How are you still one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever met?” the Uchiha murmured thoughtlessly and Tobirama recoiled, eyes snapping away and down unable to meet the intense dark eyes. “Madara…” he said, stiffening at the soft rustle of the Uchiha’s dark clothing as Madara shifted, trying to catch Tobirama’s eyes, “To’ra-“ the sharp ringing of Madara’s work phone (still the same jarring sound Tobirama remembered helping him choose five years ago laughing as Madara squawked with outrage at the sound) cut through whatever Madara was going to say and the albino blew out a relived breath “You should get that Madara, with everything going on you shouldn’t ignore HQ”.

“Tobirama-“ the Uchiha tried and the albino shook his head, refusing to look at the older man. There was a long pause and then Madara swore quietly, getting up to stride to the phone where he had left it on the desk. Tobirama closed his eyes in relief; thank all the gods, he was at his limit for emotions today, teetering on the brink of dangerously overwhelmed – Madara had always been good at bringing him to brink of too much like this but now, without the painful tenuous trust they had found when they were younger Tobirama just _couldn’t_ handle going any farther. He needed time now.

Even so Tobirama was glad when Madara came back over and set a hesitant hand on the back of his neck, fingers just brushing over pale skin until the albino leaned back into the warmth of the Uchiha’s broad hand and it settled more firmly cupping the base of Tobirama’s skull, radiating heat through tense muscles. “I have to go in, things with the Shimura are heating up. Would you – I don’t want to force you to get involved but, we need anything we can get To’ra” Madara said unhappily. Tobirama sighed and nodded, as far as he was concerned not getting involved was never an option, not when the people he loved were going to be in the thick of things and in danger – it was just that he hadn’t intended to get involved this obviously if he could avoid it. He wasn’t sure how to operate anymore when people were watching, his place had been in the shadows for far to long for that to be comfortable to him. “I’ll come. Just. I’d rather not…be recognized.” Tobirama wished the words had come out less stutteringly but there was nothing to be done, when it came down to it the last thing he wanted was to be noticed by Izuna or deal with his brother. Madara shifted around until Tobirama could see him better and nodded, “You want to come into HQ?” he asked, the albino smirked a little “Not sure how else I’m supposed to watch your back” (assuming Madara even trusted Tobirama at his back after everything).

* * *

Madara felt a flash of warmth go through him at Tobirama’s words. He would never have assumed that Tobirama would want that now after everything that had happened but hearing his soulmate say that he wanted to watch Madara’s back, wanted it enough to risk detection from Izuna and Hashirama (Madara was sure there was no way that Tobirama wanted to deal with either of them right now – and the Uchiha was selfish enough to want to keep Tobirama to himself as long as he could) was reassuring on a level Madara needed to not think about too much (he _needed_ to keep his hopes down a bit, he needed to not take anything for granted. Not this time). Now the only problem was getting Tobirama into HQ; the Uchiha hummed and tilted his head thoughtfully, maybe – Izuna wouldn’t like it but it would make sense given everything that had happened recently; it would even mean that they wouldn’t have to lie much.

“How do you feel about being Hiraishin again for a while?” he asked with a glint in his eyes (he wasn’t going to pretend he didn’t like the sight of Tobirama in Hiraishin’s clothes and any excuse to get him in them, though if he could get him out of them…); Tobirama raised an eyebrow but just nodded and slipped away to change as Madara gathered his things and got ready for a long stint in the office (change of clothes was a must, and some stuff for Tobirama as well in case he needed them. And no. that wasn’t just a ploy to get Tobirama in his clothes again) and gather up all the medical things he was sure Tobirama was going to forget. His Geas may have given him some of the speedy recovery that the Uchiha enjoyed but Madara hadn’t forgotten that until a few hours ago Tobirama had barely been able to leave the bed, he would need to sit at the office and painkiller and nausea meds and more broth – mentally Madara checked things off his list as he got them ready to go, hoping Tobirama would remember to wrap his ribs even if he didn’t want Madara to help him. He shoved the last things in the heavy duty sports bag- normally they were used to transport rather more dangerous things- and looked up only to just about jump out of his skin at the sight of Tobirama leaning on the door jamb; apparently he had gotten even quieter in the last few years; it had been a _long_ time since anyone snuck up on Madara successfully.

All of that was completely secondary as the Uchiha looked at his soulmate, mouth going dry at the lean figure in the doorway dressed in sleek lines of – fuck Madara didn’t know what the black _catsuit_ was made of but it looked like leather and was unzipped down Tobirama’s sternum, his joints had strategic padding and it looked to have pieces of heavy body armor on his shins and forearms as well as on his knees and down the line of his spine. There was a utility belt on his hips with the karambits he preferred Madara was fairly sure those soft flexible boots had steel toes, and he looked like a shadow, a ghost; even the rips in the suit down Tobirama’s legs- especially his thighs with less armor- didn’t to a damn thing to make him look any less deadly. Tobirama cleared his throat and Madara’s eyes snapped back up to his face with an apologetic grimace; the albino looked a bit confused but not upset and he shook his head at Madara “Ready?” he asked in the quiet voice, Madara blinked for a minute trying to get his brain back in working order and getting caught on the jacket in Tobirama’s hand instead “That’s not the jacket you were wearing in the warehouse – or the ally” he said stupidly. A corner of Tobirama’s lips quirked up “No, luckily. I had to ditch the one you ruined in the warehouse, and the other was just to help me blend, this” he raised the coat “doesn’t blend but it’s my favorite, so” he shrugged and Madara had to admit the jacket wasn’t exactly low profile; the thick white fur mantel and ruff was visually stunning and the heavy, deep cowl-hood that came up under it would do well to hide Tobirama’s face, but it was rather distinctive. As were the sweeping lines of leather and body armor extending from the mantel down to nip in tightly at his waist like a bomber jacket showing off his narrow waist and gods his _ass_ must – “ _Madara_ , pay attention. Is something wrong? you need to focus.”

The Uchiha flushed at the mixture of concern and rebuke on his soulmate's face and shook his head to clear it; he could ogle Tobirama _later_ , now wasn’t the time – especially since he seemed to have no idea that Madara _was_ appreciating him (was it possible his self-image problem had actually gotten worse?...ok, stupid question). “No, no I’m fine, just – just really glad you’re here. I’ve spent so much time missing you it just, well,” he moved closer slowly, giving his soulmate plenty of time to move away but all he did was tense “I’m just really glad to see you” he murmured and cupped that elegant neck with a feather light touch “so, _so_ glad.” Tobirama flushed a little, a conflicted look on his face and though he didn’t pull away Madara could see how much he wanted too, how hard he was fighting himself to give Madara this so the Uchiha stepped away, forcing down his niggling disappointment. Tobirama had been terribly hurt and not just by Madara, whatever trust they may have had before was gone and he would have to work to build it again; better this time though, stronger and without the anger and lies and fear, they would do better, and they would do it at whatever pace or in whatever way Tobirama wanted. Just as the Uchiha’s hands dropped the albino grabbed one, turning it over to press a fleeting kiss to Madara’s ungloved palm and not moving away when the other man curled his fingers gently against his cheek, leaning into the touch even!

Reluctantly Madara drew his hand back with one last caress, “We should go” he murmured, voice quieter and deeper that he had really intended “we’ll take my car, and you can sit when we get there, _no,_ none of that. You’re still wounded and I won’t let you hurt yourself if its not needed” he paused and considered that “or even if it is needed. I’ll find another way to deal with it, like you _siting_ and taking your medication. To’ra, Tobira, please, for me” the black clad shoulders fell and Tobirama pursed his lips as he turned to head to the garage, swinging his jacket on as he did but leaving the cowl down for now (Madara was right, the view from the back was _divine_ , as in he was having a holy experience and felt a strong need to worship).


	16. fealty

Tobirama was glad the car ride to HQ was quiet, letting him sink into Hiraishin’s headspace; the predator sinking in and suppressing all his buzzing emotions as distractions Hiraishin couldn’t afford. Hiraishin had to be focused and intent and alert and _waiting_ , Hiraishin could keep Madara safe and control his broken Geas and be the weapon he should have never pretended he wasn’t; this had always been his destiny, to be the lightning that struck from the blue, the hound waiting for the horn, the breath before the storm. He could be that now, he could use it for Madara- for his _soulmate-_ and that made the world go sharp and clear, better than it had ever felt. By the time they swung into the parking space in the protected garage under the HQ Tobirama was fully sunk into Hiraishin, flipping up his cowl- checking that the fasteners were in place to keep it there should he have to fight- and sliding out of the car in a sleek coiled movement to meet his waiting wide eyed soulmate.

Madara swallowed hard, eyes tracking Hiraishin’s movements very closely as his mouth opened and closed silently for a second before he gave up on whatever he was trying to say and waved the albino past him into the elevator. Tobirama rolled his eyes a bit in the shadows of his hood, leaned against the mirrored wall with folded arms under Madara’s gaze; both of them silent with the awareness of the security camera in the corner of the elevator (Hiraishin couldn’t help but run through all the ways he could get around it, he had a problem with not being able to enter any place without strategizing how to do it without being seen). “I don’t think I ever said thank you for the hard drive” the Uchiha murmured, Tobirama looked up from where he had been looking at the floor unsurprised that Madara had managed to look in his eyes even under the thick shadows of his cowl, “You didn’t need to, I didn’t do it for thanks – you know why” Tobirama murmured back, leaning into the quiet and rough in his voice to help hide his identity. A smile flickered over Madara’s face “No, you were planning to just leave it on my doorstep, I know you didn’t intend to get caught” his voice was wry and Tobirama huffed a laugh just as the doors dinged and opened into the hub of the Vow Core. Tobirama’s eyes immediately went to the darkly painted high celling, landing on the lines of narrow crossbeams crossing the space suspending the many screens and electronics scattered through the room (good, if he needed it would be very easy to get up there and perch where it was quieter. Also, talk about security risk) before catching on Izuna Uchiha.

The younger Uchiha brother was sitting on a tall stool at the central console looking out the sweeping floor windows, currently darkened and functioning as a giant monitor for the branch. Izuna’s dark cane leaned against the console and if Tobirama hadn’t known that his left leg was augmented with a prosthetic nothing would have clued him in; he looked better than Tobirama and expected and he seemed to have adapted to the position on Quartermaster well even if the albino was sure that it must have been hard at first to leave the field. It was good Izuna’s Geas was so versatile - though Tobirama hadn’t always thought so, it was a more powerful Geas than any of the Uchiha seemed to realize (Tobirama had no intention of pointing it out) and was put to better use as the head of the support than in the field with Izuna’s ability to see the lines of power and form predictive patterns; not predictive of the future but filling the holes in incomplete information (or see gaps in the lines of Geas power in users, in retrospect seeing the way Tobirama’s broken Geas was a splintered ruin was probably part of why Izuna had feared him so much). Tobirama had long since figured out how to hide himself from Geas that would allow the user to see through disguises or see the pattern of his Geas (though he had never been able to hide himself from the Eyes-in-the-Sky completely – luckily they never seemed to have noticed) so he wasn’t worried about Izuna guessing who he was that way, and even if he saw it Tobirama had twisted his half-Geas into a different shape now; instead of shards of what almost looked like jagged crystals growing and changing _all the time_ it was now as if he was filled with many tongued forked lightning (not kind or gentle or still or streamlined but still, more useful than it had been, all the wild force turned inward when he needed it).

Izuna turned to them, already opening his mouth to speak to Madara and stumbled over his words as Hiraishin prowled in after him, stark in the light room and pale gray uniformed support branch personal (Tobirama remembered the first time he saw Madara in the dark gray of the field operatives, the high collar accentuating his jaw and the crisp lines of the uniform pulling the eyes to the breadth of his shoulders and trimness of his waist; it was the first time the albino seriously considered whether it would be worth it if Madara saw his Words as long as Tobirama got his hands on that creamy skin and muscles first. It hadn’t been of course, but still…he was very glad Madara still wore that uniform, just with more medals and a heavy black overcoat draped over his shoulders. Add the dark loose braid and you had a _lovely_ and dynamic picture in proper Uchiha fashion that Tobirama was _thoroughly_ appreciative of). Izuna licked his lips, sending an uncertain look at his brother, “Izuna, meet Hiraishin, our information source” Madara said, waving carelessly back at Tobirama. The albino nodded shallowly to the Quartermaster, hoping some what vainly to keep speaking to a minimum; Izuna nodded back uncertainly “You’re the source of the hard drive? It was good info”.

* * *

Madara smirked a bit in the face of his brother’s off-balance expression, more satisfied by it than he probably should have been. “He’s also been watching our backs with the shady side of things, keeping the Shimura distracted and making sure that they didn’t get anything to useful when info passed through his hands. Like the hard drive with the info on the people that can give Geas not having anything useful about Uchiha Matriarchs” Madara’s voice was a bit too smug, but he was hopping it would be chalked down to managing to bring one of the best almost-criminals in the city in from the cold; Hiraishin would be an astonishing asset to the Core and having him with them was _definitely_ something to brag about. Bragging so publicly also had the advantage of spreading the word of Hiraishin’s loyalty to the rest of the Core and keeping them from trying to attack him if they saw him anywhere – Madara just wished it hadn’t come at the cost of Tobirama’s place in the criminal world and placed a target on his back if there was a mole in the Core as Madara suspected.

Izuna shot his brother an incredulous look but Madara, “Well thank you then, what you brought in has made this much easier” he said, Tobirama nodded again, prowling forward in that _lovely_ way he had taken up as soon as he transitioned to Hiraishin; like the way a tiger walked, low and rolling, and promising and – it was just hot. _Seriously_ hot. And even better when he was using it to come and stand next to Madara, draping himself over the older man and somehow making it look like it was a total accident (Madara took his soulmate’s weight with some relief, Tobirama was going to let Madara look after him, thank god) and like he was totally disinterested in both Madara and everything around him (again reminding Madara powerfully of a lounging cat, a jaguar this time maybe). Izuna sent his brother another uncertain look but apparently decided to let it go – an operative just brought in from the cold was bound to be a bit…odd and if Madara had been working on Hiraishin for a while it would explain both his trust in and unwillingness to speak of his source, slotting neatly into Izuna’s Geas powered pattern (it didn’t completely, though Madara didn’t know it, but the places where the fit wasn’t perfect were connected to the way Hiraishin seemed attached to Madara to a baffling extent so Izuna was willing to let it go for now). (The watching Core members did their best to keep working and pretend they weren’t avidly interested in the dark clothed pair; weren’t fascinated by the lovely striking image they made, weren’t thinking that if Madara was only holding a leash they would be the picture of a king and a sleek pet panther or leopard at his side.)

“What are we looking at Izuna?” Madara asked, pulling them back on track, Izuna shaking off his distraction and turning back to the monitors and the spacious map of Konoha over laid with several overlays showing a verity of information. “I’ve combined the maps of known Geas users and Matriarchs, with the best info I could find about where those disappearing low level Geas were and the maps of the Shimura bases- as well as those warehouses- to see if we can find any patterns-“ “add sights of Geas accidents or Goddess summoning” Tobirama whispered into Madara’s ear, close enough the Uchiha had to bite back a shiver “Add Geas accidents or malfunctions and Goddess summons” Madara told Izuna. The Quartermaster frowned, calling up the layers of information and aggregating them as he spoke “We haven’t had any of the missing users reappear, either alive or in morgues-“ “Shimura burn the dead” Tobirama whispered to Madara “-so we have to assume they’re all still alive even if we don’t have a clear number to work off of. Kuro says that the Shimura have a purpose with them as more than shock troops though, her visons keep showing a large space- probably underground- and some sort of ritual circle with a lot of people standing around but the vision won’t stabilize- there’s some sort of interference- and – _ah!_ got it.”

Izuna threw the new information onto the screen and then paused, staring at the map with confusion while Tobirama removed himself from Madara’s side (the Uchiha bit back a whine at the loss) prowling to look more closely at the screen; Madara wished that they were somewhere safer where he could ask his soulmate what he was thinking and what was bothering him, not only did he love to hear Tobirama’s amazing mind work but he thought he might be better able to help if he knew what his soulmate was thinking. Madara kept on eye on his albino as Izuna filled him in on where the Core was and how well armed, what they would have to work with if it came down to a pitched battle, so when Tobirama turned back to the room he noticed immediately and raised an eyebrow “Hiraishin?” Tobirama hummed and the branch leaned closer to hear him “Have you ever heard the myth of the moon goddess and her sons?” Izuna shifted looking impatient but Madara held up a hand, positive Tobirama was going somewhere with this, “Not for years, I don’t really remember it.”

“Once upon a time there was a goddess that descended to earth to live life as mortals do for she was lonely alone in the heavens. On earth she married a man for she wanted children to love the way she saw mortal mothers love and so had twin sons - Hagoromo and Hamura; both strong and gifted with some measure of her divinity and she loved them as best a goddess could love anything touched by mortality. In time fractures formed in the family, for the goddess had grown unhappy on earth with a husband she loved not and sons that had moved away and found families of their own and so she wished to return to the moon and its peace, but she could not do so without the power she had given her sons. Power they feared giving back to her for they feared greatly that she would hurt the earth once her power was returned and punish all living things for the disappointment she had experienced; for she was not a merciful goddess, and so they refused to return it. The goddess’s anger was deep and cold, and she brought the full weight of her fury to bear on her sons, meeting them in a battle that extended for four days and four nights during which the moon never set. In the end though she was strong her sons fought to protect their families and children and could not let themselves loose, and so they defeated her and laid her low and demanded that she swear on her divinity to never seek to harm a living creature. But she was angry and hurt and refused, calling them faithless and betrayers and with her last breath and power she laid a Geas on them, the first of its kind. As long as they should live never again could they look upon their loved ones or refuse aid when asked of them, if they did the divinity they had inherited from her would turn against them and destroy them.”

The room was completely silent, all the monitors even silenced to better hear Hiraishin speak “It is said that where she died and her blood soaked upon the ground no man dared to tread for many years, long after Hagoromo and Hamura and their ill-fated sons had died, but after a time men grew curious and found that the place of the goddess’s death had grown rich and strong and as a village grew there the people found they were strong and long lived and many gifted with strange gifts, blessed they said by the goddess’s lost life. Legend has it that Konoha is built from that village” Tobirama turned back to the monitor and reached out, a helpful minion following his movements and zooming in on the large lunar park, _lunar_ park, “When I was nine an archaeological discovery was made in the tunnels under the park, it was kept quiet, but it was rumored to date back to before the earliest days of Konoha, six months later the Shimura showed up and suddenly there were more Geas users than ever before.”

Izuna hissed out a breath, his eyes on the map and the place Tobirama had tagged “You think the legend is true, that the goddess died there, and the Shimura found out after something was dug up and they plan to use it somehow” he said slowly, trying for disbelief and not quite making it. “Look at your map, where the patterns converge, where the Shimura have gathered their bases, where more Geas accidents happen than anywhere else – do you think I’m wrong?” Tobirama asked, Izuna chewed his lip, “They definitely want something there” Madara said, grim “and a goddess’s death…” he trailed off. Up until now they had been keeping the theory that the Shimura were planning to strip away the Taboo of all the Geas users in Konoha quiet to keep it from moles or panic (Madara knew he was trying to not panic, Taboo existed for a reason and every attempt to remove it and keep Geas power had gone _wrong_ , and always ended in dead soulmates. If the Shimura found a way to do something like the Gold and Silver brothers to the entire city Eyes-in-the-Sky were clear: soulmates wouldn’t survive and the idea of Tobirama’s blood on his hands…no. no. _no._ ) but maybe it was time to let some of the information out. They didn’t have to specify _what_ the Shimura were doing with Geas just that they were fucking around with them on a city wide scale, that would be enough to make people angry without adding the details.

“A goddess’s deathplace would be enough to effect the entire city, set up for a briefing – the entire Core” Madara finished grimly, glad when Tobirama moved back to his side and leaned on him (he needed to get his soulmate something to drink – Madara was willing to bet that talking that much had hurt after his wounds) wishing he could be more affectionate; wrap an arm around the albino, kiss his cheek and hold him close, but that would be a dead giveaway. Madara would never be that kind of affectionate with anyone other than his soulmate and Izuna would _know_ that, which remined him – “We have to call in Hashirama, as one of the most powerful Geas users we don’t have a choice” Madara murmured to Tobirama as the Core member scattered to set up what was needed to get the briefing to all members of the Core (most would be recalled to the HQ but those that couldn’t would have to get it remotely). Tobirama flinched into Madara's side but just sighed, clearly he didn’t want to run the risk but – Madara had no choice.


	17. devotion

Tobirama tapped his fingers on the crossbeam he was lounging on above the bustle of the hub, perfectly happy to stay on his perch away from the movement and brighter light and having to interact with – just on time Hashirama’s voice got a particular tone to it that made Tobirama twitch and brace for impulsive and frequently hurtful word, forgetting for a moment that Hashirama didn’t even know Hiraishin was here much less that _Tobirama_ was here. Come to think of it the only people that knew where he was might be Kuro and Madara, Tobirama didn’t think that Izuna realized Hiraishin was lurking in the rafters above him and the minions probably didn’t given that no one was looking up and trying to find him; Madara was looking up and checking on Tobirama from time to time, always looking relived to find his soulmate still there. Hashirama’s voice raised a little higher and Tobirama rubbed at his forehead, making a real effort not to listen to what his brother was saying response to Madara telling him about the Shimura; Tobirama blinked in surprise when Hashirama’s voice lowered again and peered down at his brother, baffled by the fact that Hashirama actually seemed to have calmed down and was listening to what Madara said. Well, that was…different. But maybe it wasn’t fair for Tobirama to assume that his brother hadn’t changed in _five years_ , especially since he had found his soulmate.

His eyes moved to Mito Senju where she was leaning over an intimidated looking minion examining his screen; Tobirama was fairly sure that it was the info about the archaeological sight that Tobirama postulated was the center of the Shimura’s plan. “Hiraishin?” Madara’s voice calling him drew his attention away from the red-head and he leaned over the crossbeam and out of the shadows enough to be seen from below, his lips quirking as silence rippled through the room as people realized that Hiraishin had been perched above them the entire time; a predator lazily at their backs they hadn’t even noticed. “We’re going to move out in an hour and just take the best of the Core, Mito will organize the lower ranks and none Geas forces incase we don’t move fast enough” Tobirama nodded to Madara’s words making sure it was clear enough for the man to see on the floor; quietly relived they weren’t going to be putting off moving in, no one knew when the Shimura were planning to make their play but it would be foolish give them time to find out that the Core was on to them.

The albino sighed and leaned back, ignoring Hashirama’s babbled questions about him, Madara would keep Hashirama off his back and he was sure that his soulmate would rather Tobirama rest until they needed to turn out. His injuries were…manageable, not an immediate threat at least, but not comfortable and Tobirama would have to do his best to keep anyone from laying hands on him and aggravating things; if he could he should be alright and the idea of Madara’s concerned unhappy face was better motivation to keep himself safe than pain ever had been.

* * *

Madara frowned at the tablet he had just been given and shook his head handing it back to the woman that had given it to him, checking the time and grimacing; it was time to get moving and he was going to have to call down his soulmate when Madara would much rather let him rest. Just before Madara could call out Hashirama popped up at his elbow, looking worried “Are you ready to go Madara?” he asked and the Uchiha sighed “Yes, just let me call down Hiraishin-“ “I’m here” the rough voice behind him made Madara jump in surprise, spinning to see Tobirama’s dark shape behind him as if he had materialized from nowhere (it made no sense Madara hadn’t seen him jump down and in the middle of a light room like this there were no shadows for Tobirama to hide in, every time he moved he should have stood out like a sore thumb). Quiet spread out from them again as the Core tried to contain their unease at the way Hiraishin seemed about to go anywhere without being seen, like the ghost they used to call him. “Ready?” he asked as Tobirama prowled closer and draped himself over the Uchiha’s shoulder and back like a hunting cat – both affectionate and threatening, Madara was willing to bet that if Hashirama tried to touch him he would lose a few fingers (Madara didn’t mind in the slightest).

Tobirama hummed his readiness, hidden face tracking Hashirama’s nervous movements as the Senju watched Hiraishin like he was a wild animal- not far off honestly- which Madara was ready to bet Tobirama found more than a little entertaining; he had always enjoyed discomforting his brother. “Alright” Madara called out to the Core “time to move out, lets get these fuckers to stop trying to mess with our city.” Grim nods met his words as the last few pieces of equipment were gathered; Madara turned to look at his brother, catching a strange look on Izuna’s face as he did. Madara frowned questioningly at his brother but let it go when Izuna shook his head and came over, Tobirama moving back as he did; “Come back” Izuna said, letting Madara pull him into a tight hug, pulling back and clapping his brother’s shoulder with a smile and said, “Hold down the fort kid.” Izuna rolled his eyes, catching on Hiraishin and sticking for a long moment before he addressed the other man “Keep him safe, yeah?” Tobirama’s cowled head dipped and Madara’s heart seized “We’ll _both_ be safe” He said, the idea of Tobirama getting hurt on his behalf making his blood run cold; he couldn’t see his soulmate’s eyes under the cowl but knew down in his bones that if Tobirama had to chose between himself and Madara he would never choose himself. (It was terrifying.)


	18. relinquish

If Tobirama was a cat all his hair would be standing on end, as it was he felt about two seconds from snapping with the growing tension in the air; like barely contained static electricity. The rest of the Vow Core could feel it too, everyone too-quiet and on edge though none of them seemed quite as effected as Tobirama– it must be something to do with Tobirama’s broken Geas-; even Madara was looking grim and intent, compulsively checking that Tobirama was behind him every few feet (he truly seemed so afraid that Tobirama would vanish on him, Tobirama didn’t know how to handle it). They stepped out of the access tunnel into the wide space under the Lunar park; clearly at some point in Konoha’s history these tunnels and the space must have been constructed. It was _old_ construction, and it must have taken a lot of work to build the roof over the so much space with nothing more than a few pillars here and there, built around the ruins the space was clearly built to protect (built and then sealed off for centuries) it must have taken a lot of work to create this place.

“Hiraishin?” Madara asked softly as Tobirama moved past him to step lightly onto the ancient mosaic filling the space, interrupted by what looked like the bases of columns and in the center there was a huge white stone alter but it was the _mosaic_ that held Tobirama’s attention. “The archaeologists think it’s an image of a stylized moon cycle, with a peach tree in the center-“ Mito’s soft voice only penetrated a little through Tobirama’s focus as a slow thought grew in the albino’s mind; “No” he murmured, moving back and scaling the wall halfway up and looking over the entire space “or rather, it is a moon circle and tree but that’s not all it is” he looked down at Madara, the Uchiha’s eyes warm and resolute. Madara stepped closer to the wall and raised an eyebrow, lifting his hands invitingly ( _will you jump?_ ); Tobirama took a shaking breath and pushed off the wall ( _if you catch me_ ) dropping lightly into Madara’s arms, the Uchiha’s hand catching his hips tightly and lowering him to the ground with a deep liquid look in his eyes that made Tobirama shiver a bit and lean into the gloved hands before pulling back (both ignored the watching Core and Mito, luckily Hashirama was still back in the tunnels far enough not to see).

“Its not just a decorative picture?” Mito prompted, pulling Tobirama’s attention away from Madara, “No, the lines are all interconnected and there are places where the columns must have been placed around them instead of it around them. The mosaic is also better built than even the alter” he hesitated “it looks…like a summoning circle” Mito sucked in a breath through her teeth and Madara jerked next to the albino, both of them turning back to the ruins with new eyes. “But the story says the moon goddess died, you can’t summon a dead goddess” Madara muttered, “You can’t” Mito said with certainty “but what happens if it you try and fail?” she hesitated, slanting a look at Madara “Hashirama’s brother – he has a failed Geas and Hashi always said that it was still extremely strong”. Madara’s jaw went tight and he twitched, looking away; Mito’s eyes were sympathetic on the Uchiha and Tobirama wished more than anything that he could touch Madara right now, that he could reach out and have his soulmate accept him. But just then Hashirama spilled into the chamber, eyes wide and hair frizzy and Tobirama shifted farther back to avoid his brother’s gaze. Clearly Hashirama had changed from when Tobirama still knew him, Mito and Hashirama’s more moderated and thoughtful behavior made that clear even in as little time as Tobirama had had to watch; but that didn’t make Tobirama any more interested in talking to Hashirama, he didn’t want to know that his brother still held the same opinion of Tobirama as he had back before the accident. (Tobirama didn’t know if he could take it, if he could bear to hear his older brother’s opinion of his relationship with Madara right now when Tobirama himself was still so…uncertain. Broken. Lost.)

* * *

Madara grit his teeth as his soulmate shifted away but said nothing, forcing himself to focus on Mito and Kikiyo and Hashirama and wishing that Kuro had been able to give them something clearer before they left. Kikiyo and Mito started arguing about their next move (should they try breaking the mosaic or just try and keep the Shimura from using it) in the politest voices possible as usual and Madara turned away, looking around the room and aching to go to his soulmate where the man was leaning against the wall, his head at a thoughtful angle. He was still debating whether or not he could go over when the headset in his ear clicked softly to indicate that the line was live, “Major?” Madara frowned, “Here. Do Eyes have something new for me?” “Yes sir, let me patch the Lieutenant through” Madara made an agreeing sound as the corporal redirected him to his sister on a private line. “Madara?” Kuro’s voice was tight and stressed and Madara felt his frown go darker “Here, what’s going on?” he asked shortly; relaxing only when Tobirama pushed away from the wall and drifted over to lounge against Madara.

“You’re in the mosaic chamber right? Hiraishin told you about the summoning circle? The Shimura are going to try and use the low level Geas users to try and give the echoes of the goddess back enough power to suspend Taboo long enough for them to make it permanent.” Madara swore softly, it was a well known phenomenon that in the presence of divinity Taboo were suspended and Geas could be used without thought to them, if Shimura could make that permanent… “exactly, you need to stop them from doing the summoning, I don’t know that you will be able to stop the sacrifice – you can’t in my visions, so focus on keeping the seal inactive. If you can’t, Madara is Tobirama there?” Madara stiffened and felt his soulmate shift to listen to what Kuro was saying better “Tobirama- Hiraishin, if it all goes wrong you’ll have to shut it. I think you already know how” Tobirama made an agreeing noise and Madara’s hands clenched into fists “No, no, if you – I _can’t lose you_ ” he hissed to both and neither of them (to the universe, a challenge and promise, he _wouldn’t_ lose his soulmate again). Kuro made a sad noise and Tobirama leaned harder on him, speaking in a warm hush between them “It won’t kill me and if the Shimura get what they want you will lose me anyway, just that you will be the one doing it”” Madara retched at the thought of being the reason – of being the one – of _killing_ his soulmate, he couldn’t, couldn’t, _never_ (but Madara could feel the tension in Tobirama’s body and he could taste the power here, he knew how these things went, the cost to close the seal if it was opened couldn’t possibly be cheap and he didn’t want for Tobirama to have to hurt more; not ever, not for _anything_ ).


	19. troth

“Swear to me doing this won’t kill you” Madara was all but begging him and it made Tobirama’s heart twist “darling _, I can’t lose you”_ it was a rough plea and as Madara said the words something hot and stinging flashed under Tobirama’s collarbones. The albino gasped and pressed a hand to his chest, turning away from the rest of the room and pealing back coat and suit to look at his skin tacky with blood but under that were words, no, _Words_ , soul words, new soul Words. Madara reached and touched the skin just under the new Words, his eyes bright and awed “Tobira” he breathed, eyes fixed on _darling_ under his right collarbone and _I can’t lose you_ under the left in Madara’s spiky handwriting (distantly Tobirama wondered if it meant anything that the new Words had the same placement as Madara’s) “are the others..?” Tobirama hated to dash the hope dawning in Madara’s eyes but he couldn’t lie, “No, my other Words are still there” (of course they were, no matter what else happened he would never forget the other Words – they had defined so much of his life that Tobirama knew they would never fade) Madara’s face fell but when his eyes landed on the new Words the disappointment faded “Well, now you have these to remember – I can’t lose you, I need you to do everything you can to stay safe, _please_ ”.

Tobirama nodded, raising a hand and touching Madara’s cheek before sweeping his hand down the loose braid pulled forward over his shoulder (Tobirama was willing to bet he braided it forward to keep from sitting on it remembering past grumbling), ignoring the possibility of someone figuring out his identity; this was more important. “You grew it out” he murmured. Madara turned into his hand, nuzzling at Tobirama’s palm like an affectionate cat “You said you liked it, I always hoped to have a chance to show you” Tobirama was glad his cowl covered so much of his face and hid his blush at those words, licking his lips before he could respond “I, um, I do like it” he muttered to the floor; shivering when Madara pressed a kiss to the inside of his wrist. A loud squawk broke their quiet bubble, and both whipped around to look at Hashirama and a disapproving looking Mito – Tobirama’s jacket still open and zipper on his suit pulled down to just over his navel leaving a long strip of pale skin visible. “What the hell! Madara you’re involved with this – this – this _criminal!?_ This self-serving greedy _thief_?! What about your _soulmate?!”_ the older Senju snarled and Tobirama looked away, again glad to be hidden under the cowl if for rather different reason now. He knew Hashirama didn’t know who he was (but if Hashirama thought that Hiraishin was those things and Tobirama _was_ Hiraishin then…) and it sounded like he was trying to defend Tobirama a bit even (why had he never done that before? Why only defend Tobirama’s right to his soulmate now when it was easy? When it didn’t _matter,_ and he didn’t have to actually say that and believe that while looking at Tobirama) it still hurt.

Tobirama stepped away from a fuming Madara, sliding out of his hands easy as anything (defiantly he left his clothes in disarray, fuck you brother) with a murmured word about getting a look at the entrances and exits around the chamber; ignoring Madara’s snarled response to Hashirama – not yelling but honestly more intimidating for it. He needed to concentrate on other things anyway; it wouldn’t matter how much he and Madara talked and slowly inched their way beck towards each other is they were both _dead_ courtesy of the Shimura. He felt Mito fallowing him quietly (she was no Guðrún, it was easy to hear her) her knee high boots clicking slightly on the rocky dirt around the edges of the mosaic as she walked, staring fixedly at his back he was sure. “You and Madara, are you…” she tailed off leadingly and Tobirama’s jaw clenched as he refused to respond, doing his best to ignore her as he examined the edges of the mosaic; he was almost positive that there would be… ah. found it. Still ignoring Mito Tobirama crouched, tilting his head this way and that as he looked at the tiles and then at the walls; “What are you looking at?” Mito asked, the frown clear in her voice, but non-combative – she understood that they needed all the help they could get even if she didn’t like it then, good, Hashirama needed someone like that.

“See, here, the tiles are more worn down, the coloring is coming off and” she leaned forward and in a move Tobirama would probably regret later he nabbed her wedding ring, setting it on its side on the mosaic as she gaped and gesturing at when it started rolling “this part is worn down more than the rest.” Mito stared at the ring “Like an old path” she breathed and Tobirama nodded “Exactly, this was the entrance that was used the most, so why does it open to a wall?” the woman’s eyes flashed from the edge of the mosaic over the strip of dirt and then rested on the solid wall “Why not build a tunnel leading right up to it?” he asked. “The schematics in the office gave no reason they couldn’t have built a tunnel here when this was first constructed, so why set it up like _this?_ ” she examined the wall as she spoke, head cocked. Something cold bloomed in Tobirama’s chest and he stood slowly turning to face the wall “Unless they _did_ ” he breathed, wishing his voice was stronger to call to Madara and settling for clapping loudly, immediately pulling Madara’s eyes to him. The Uchiha turned his back on the still fuming Hashirama (oh _now_ I deserve to be defended brother?) and walking towards them, body tight with tension when he saw the way Mito and Tobirama were staring at the wall.

“Hiraishin?” he asked looking like he really wanted to touch Tobirama even as the albino moved out of reach; he wasn’t interested in hearing more of his brother’s opinions about him right now, not when he needed to focus. Instead he let Mito explain as he turned back to the wall, examining it with all the skills Hiraishin had; brushing his fingernail over the wall to see if it caught on strange cracks, listening and feeling for air movement. There was nothing for long enough Tobirama was starting to doubt himself when he felt a bare breath of air and something, something, what? He knelt and placed his hands flat on the ground, breathing slowly and listening only to the movement of air and the beat of his heart _feeling_ – movement. A vibration in the floor. “Madara” at his quiet call the Major turned away from the others, Tobirama could feel those dark eyes on the back of his head “prepare yourself, we’re about to have company” Madara swore and spun to his men, shouting orders while Tobirama dipped his head, focusing on the tempo of the vibrations; timing it with length of an average man's steps to get - “Pet, how soon?” Madara’s voice made him smile a bit, amused at the new pet name (certainly one he had never used with Tobirama before – one Hashirama wouldn’t know) “I think…five minutes, no more than ten.”

* * *

Madara felt the beginnings of the pre-confrontation adrenalin rush in the chilly tingling of his extremities, the familiar feeling oddly steadying as his soulmate stood and spun to him (gods he wished he could see Tobirama’s face just once more) looking at Madara for a long moment. He could feel Tobirama thinking about something, weighing something, and waited patiently; his men knew their jobs, they had gone over this many times and it wasn’t a complicated plan anyway. He could wait. Tobirama’s shoulders shifted and then braced as he moved closer and Madara extended his hands without thought, always glad to have his soulmate return to him; Tobirama stopped a few feet away and Madara saw his shoulders move in a deep breath as graceful hands reached for his cowl, unfastening something and then resting on the edges. He hesitated and Madara stepped forward, “You don’t need to do that” he murmured, very aware that they were watched. He could hear the smile in his soulmate's voice when he responded “No, but for you I will anyway” and pushed back the cowl to pool on white fur, face pale but composed and his eyes were sure.

Madara reached out hands he was sure were shaking (Tobirama would never let others see him if he planned to leave, he wouldn’t want the complication) and cupped his soulmate’s fey face, breath catching when Tobirama turned into his hand red eyes going half lidded. “Oh darling…” he choked out as Tobirama slanted a slightly sad smile under frost-lashes “darling” the albino reached out and curled his fingers in Madara’s braid and stepped even closer, angling for a lingering kiss as though they had all the time in the world and not only a few scant moments together again. Tobirama hummed and smiled into Madara’s lips “Don't look like that Madara, this isn’t a goodbye kiss. This is a, hmm, _incentive_ kiss” he murmured; the Uchiha laughed a little and wrapped his arms tightly around his soulmate’s narrow waist, crushing them together and rocking back and forth a little “Then we better get through this, so we have time to work our way back here” he rumbled into the moonlight hair. Distantly he was aware that Hashirama’s continued silence should worry him, but he just didn’t care, not when Tobirama sighed and sagged into him for another moment and then gently pulled back, touching Madara’s cheek and turning to the false wall just as Madara heard some kind of internal mechanism grind to life, this was it then – the pivot of possibility.


	20. fastness

Tobirama didn’t look at his brother as he gathered his Geas to him and pulled out his karambits, spinning them once and readying himself; he knew the fact that Hashirama had been so silent wasn’t a good thing – the only thing worse than Hashirama making a fuss was Hashirama _not_ making a fuss. But Hashirama would have to wait, Tobirama didn’t have to face his brother yet, and he could kill some people first to blow off steam (which would definitely not help Hashirama’s opinion of him, but you can’t have everything). Madara settled next to him, cracking his neck; the two of them the only people out in the open with no cover, to draw attention to them and let the rest of the VC get off some shots at the Shimura people, they would be relatively safe even from gun fire with their Geas active anyway. Tobirama shivered as he felt Madara’s Geas wake and knew if he looked the other man’s eyes would have gained the flaring Geas mark, power building behind his eyes and making them and the skin around them glow like coals (Tobirama had always liked Madara’s Geas, it was beautiful, and he found it strangely steadying in a way he had never been able to explain).

There was a clank and the section of the wall Tobirama had been examining ground open on old hardware; Madara and Tobirama took long enough to get a good look at the Shimura and make sure it looked as predicted- it did, the Familie's men in dark cliché suits and surrounded by a rag-tag collection strung out looking men and women, the low Geas user they had taken to test and apparently drugged to the edge of a frenzy (in case the Core showed up probably)- as soon as they confirmed their intelligence Madara and Tobirama launched forward as one, Tobirama’s Geas bleeding light. The lines of Tobirama’s broken Geas filled the air around him with lines of shatter-point-lighting as if the world was a breaking mirror and light was leaking in; he ducked down and went in low as Madara’s Geas flared and three men vaporized. There was a spray of blood as Tobirama’s karambit bit into the femoral artery of one man and the throat of another, the spin of his continued movement throwing them into each other to bleed out on the floor; a sudden shift of air behind him was all the warning Tobirama had to cover his mouth and nose so he didn’t inhale a lungful of vaporized person as Madara watched his back. Tobirama’s eyes caught on his soulmate and his Geas crackled out, consuming space and slamming into one of the rouge Geas users; it shattered the air around her and the woman looked suddenly awed as she stared into the shatter-point-lighting and slumped silently to the floor.

There as a break in the fighting and Tobirama sucked in a breath, eyes finding Madara ( _fine, tired, cut on his arm_ ) and then his brother ( _grim faced, unhappy, alive_ ) and Hashirama’s soulmate ( _determined, body armor clearly showing enemy fire, alive)_ and scanning over the rest of the VC; it was hard to tell at this point if they were winning but the Shimura didn’t seem that worried no matter how many of the low Geas users the VC brought down. In fact, they were holding back, letting the Geas users act as shock troops and – a gout of Geas power crashed towards him and he twisted, his own Geas eating the power with a sound like crushing metal as he snarled at the man and dove into a roll, coming up and slitting his throat from below (and just barely missing the resulting spray, he could just _feel_ Guðrún smirking somewhere). Another rush of blows ended with three more dead and Tobirama chased at the wall, he grinned with bloody teeth (doing this already injured was…less than optimal) and raced _up_ the wall kicking off and over and letting his Geas work on the man that had been chasing him. His feet hit the ground harder than he had intended and jarred his ribs sending a stab of blinding pain racing through him; he wavered, thought for a moment he was going to fall, and then an arm was around his waist. Madara. Safe.

* * *

Madara pressed Tobirama closer, careful of Tobirama’s rib as cradled his soulmate to his chest until the younger man caught his breath; he flared his Geas and he switched his baton for a gun, eyes intent on the flow of battle. “Alright pet?” he asked absently, sniping a man next to Hashirama and meeting the man’s eyes evenly when he looked up to see who shot; Hashirama’s brow furrowed as his eyes lingered on Tobirama’s resting body, almost completely limp while he gathered strength. Movement dragged Madara’s attention back to the fight, seeing Hashirama forced to do the same out of the corner of his eyes. “Darling” he prompted as he dropped an empty magazine, Tobirama sliding a new one in from his belt before Madara had time to try and figure out how to do it while keeping an arm around his soulmate “’m ok, just, need a moment, and need to think – why are the Shimura not looking worried?” Madara frowned, looking around and swearing as unease crept down his spine when he saw what Tobirama was talking about. Those were not the looks of people who were seeing a plan fall apart. Fuck.

“They don’t – _goddamnit_ – look like we’re ruining their day” Madara panted into his soulmate’s white hair Tobirama leaning into him and guiding Madara out of the path of a blow as his own Geas snarled out and took the offending attacker. Madara couldn’t help laughing breathlessly, sweeping his soulmate into swirling movements through the fight, careful of the ribs, “I always wanted to go dancing with you darling” he purred, laughing again when Tobirama turned his head to bite Madara’s neck gently “Not the time Madara” but the Uchiha could hear the amusement in his soulmate’s voice. The smile dropped from his lips when Tobirama continued, fingers brushing against the small of Madara’s back as he fetched and threw a knife, “The only possibility is that we’re _not_ ruining their day, they planned-“ “-for this” Madara finished, leaning out of the way of a madly screaming man and shooting him in the back of the head as he staggered past, “they want us to be here” Tobirama hummed “Or they don’t care that we are, either way their Geas users were never going to leave here alive.”

Madara swore, and then again right up until Tobirama twisted, plucked Madara’s second pistol from his belt, and _something_ happened (something very flexible and was going to ruin the line of his trousers if he wasn’t looking at someone’s missing intestines) and suddenly Tobirama’s highs were clamped around Madara’s rib cage to shoot over his shoulder, covering his ears with his off hand and upper arm to keep from deafening him. Madara was still trying to keep up with this when Tobirama did another _something_ and then he had his knees hooked over Madara’s non-braid shoulder, back flat to Madara back as he got off the last three shots of the magazine and kicked off Madara in a thirst inducing movement (he looked at the intestines again, yup, still effective). “So what do we do about the Shimura pet?” Madara asked in a rough voice; “I don’t think we can do anything, the Geas users they brought are almost – ah, are all dead” Tobirama’s voice was halfway between wry and wary. It was easy to see why, the fighting had been pushed into the center of the room largely on the mosaic and the old tiles were coated in a film of blood and other fluids of the dead; most of which were the Shimura’s test subjects. “fuck” he muttered as the Shimura pulled back toward the wall, leaving the VC behind in the center of the room, on the mosaic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why yes, yes Tobirama is Back Widow. 
> 
> (I have another where he's Harley Quinn from Suicide Squad. there is a pattern forming here...)


	21. abjure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how good this will be, my hands are seizing up and I'm on heavy duty painkillers but I wanted to write so here we are

Tobirama looked around the chamber, his breathing forcibly slow and methodical as he watched one Shimura man split off from the rest smiling unctuously at them as the others set hands on the mosaic come-summoning circle and power crackled into it sweeping along the edges in a shower of sparking red power (not a smooth distribution, the flaws in the circle were affecting it, good). Tobirama’s hand shot out and grabbed Madara’s coat, yanking the older man farther in the circle “Get everyone back” he gasped; Madara swore and yelled “Back! Get back from the edges!” the VC members pulled back, most of them fighting not to grimace as the death-wet film making the footing unstable and slick. “Is there a safer part of this?” Madara asked, arm snaking around Tobirama’s waist again and palming his hipbone; quickly Tobirama scanned what he could see of the mosaic and tried to fit it together with what he had seen earlier, “Yes, go to the left, the full moon in the mosaic, that should be safest; the new moon will be the power sink” the albino murmured “and suppress your Geas as much as you can, it will try to consume them.” Madara nodded grimly and passed on the instructions, gently steering them the same way as Tobirama focused on what he knew of the circle and how it might function when activated like this.

“What’s the phase of the moon?” the albino asked Madara distractedly, letting the older man draw him closer and take care of dealing with people while he tried to calculate “Half waxing? How long until this thing activates?” the Uchiha asked, his eyes sharp on something behind Tobirama. “It’s already activating – it just can’t _finish_ summoning with a dead goddess, the question is how long until it overloads” Tobirama answered distractedly “they must want to make the unstable loop self-sustaining-“ “Keep it in a state of perpetual summoning, calling up enough of the lingering power from the goddess' divine presence to lift Taboo” Mito broke in, her eyes wide and filled with barely restrained fear “if they can balance in a perpetual state of invocation they could keep the Taboo lifted indefinitely without retribution from any sentient divine power – having the summoning going might actually actually lock any divine beings from acting in its sphere of influence.” Tobirama hummed in agreement, ignoring his older brother’s intent gaze – Hashirama would have to wait until this was dealt with, luckily even Hashirama seemed to understand that and though his gaze was fixed and discomfiting he kept his mouth shut and didn’t seem about to launch into a wailing fit (for which Tobirama was _very_ grateful).

"Why do they want us in here?” Madara asked, watching his people with tight lines around his eyes, “It keeps us out of the way and more Geas and death probably feeds the invocation” Tobirama murmured, leaning into his soulmate and very glad all the members of the VC were smart enough to not try and touch any of the sparking power. “Hiraishin, what do you think will undo the invocation?” Tobirama grimaced at Mito’s question “This must be what they used on the Gold and Silver brothers just on a larger scale – both geographically and chronologically, if it _is_ I know at least a little of how their Geas-lattice works and can make some guesses. You can’t stop an invocation once it has been begun” Tobirama meet his brother’s dark eyes for a moment (they both knew exactly how Tobirama knew that) until Madara squeezed the albino’s hip under his hand and Tobirama looked away “its necessary to wait until it peaks and act before the cycle collapses back to the beginning again when it fails.” Tobirama hesitated and felt Madara tense against him “To’ra, if we wait until the invocation tries to discharge it will bend Taboo” Madara breathed, touching Tobirama’s chin lightly to bring the younger man around to face him “what if…” Tobirama tried for a smile and could see it fell flat in the growing dread in his soulmate’s eyes. “I guess we’ll have a chance to see if violating Taboo really does make people try to kill their soulmates” Tobirama said dryly, Mito gasped and Hashirama made a sharp noise of distress as Madara’s arm turned to steel around Tobirama.

There was no way to know, but there was a high possibility that without Taboo those with Geas wouldn’t just revert to normal but would instead _reverse_ as if the Geas was trying to morph out of control without constraints, power that would fight against anything that might restrain it and soulmates were the first thing to be attacked (legend had it that since Geas were believed to be the gift of the divine- either by the divine directly or by divine power called by a woman’s will- without Taboo it could never be controlled or contained by mortals, for what mere mortal could hope to carry the splendor of a god?). Attempts over the ages to get around the Taboo and access unchecked power had always ended with dead soulmates and Geas users that went mad as their Geas turned on them, tearing apart under the strain. The only people that Tobirama knew of that had escaped this fate were the Gold and Silver brothers and they were… _wrong_ , aberrations, dissonant, but _very_ powerful and utterly ruthless. “ Darling” Madara whispered, turning fully into Tobirama, apparently deciding that everything else could take care of itself “I don’t – if I _hurt_ you –“ “Madara, _Madara_ , my heart, it will only be a few moments while I take apart summon-invocation loop. I-“ but the rest of his sentence was lost when the unstable summoning power sizzled, a backwash of hair-raising acidic potential buffeting them. Tobirama met Madara’s anguished eyes so he saw the moment that the Geas was freed and his soulmate was dragged under the devouring power; the moment Madara’s heart charred and any love for Tobirama vanished (as the albino twisted himself closer he thought with some shock that _this_ was what it looked like when Tobirama truly meant nothing to Madara, and the Uchiha hadn’t looked like this the day of the accident).

* * *

Madara’s head was full of snarling, snapping power; an avarice consuming wash that filled his vision with sparks and at the same time gave everything a definition that was almost hallucinogenic ( _the tall-growing-power man was lunging for the red-head-ink-strong woman with his teeth bared_ ) except the pale man pressed against him ( _controller_ - _burden-unneeded- ** ~~lovedarlingdearest~~** )_ who was thrown in strange negative colors. ( _will hold back-dead wieght-useless- ** ~~lovelovelove~~**_ ) The man was talking, touching Madara’s face, fingers to close to his _eyes_ , no, that wasn’t good, he had to stop the man before he was yoked again, had to make him _silent_ and _still_ and – the Uchiha growled and grabbed for the _burden_ , getting his hand around that slender neck for a moment ( ** _nonononononnono_** ) before there was a knee in his chest. They were well matched, he and the man; every strike Madara made was deflected or dogged – ah, no not every strike, that elbow had landed if the tiny, pained noise was anything to go off of ( **no _no_** ) – but then somehow the man was climbing him, using Madara’s strength to leverage closer and – thighs wrapped about his neck and the Uchiha was thrown to the ground in a harsh movement that slammed the air out of his lungs and left him dazed, the world going fuzzy. The man swore and untangled himself enough to kneel over Madara and pin him even as the red eyes went distant and Madara felt something dance along his nerves as light cracked around the pale man (he was…lovely wasn’t he? ((wasn’t he?)) the only thing with definition and so warm).

Everything came back into focus slowly until Madara grinned victoriously and _twisted_ under the pale man, making him swear and roll away before launching back at Madara ( ** _hecouldn’thurt-_** ) and engaging the Uchiha flurry of movements filled with kicks and ( ** _slowergoslowerpleaseneedtobeslower_** ) somehow the man was using his locked legs to slam Madara into the floor again. The ringing dissociation lasted longer this time, something in the back of Madara’s head refusing to shake off the daze and attack again as the man gathered bleeding light. Several more gasping breaths and Madara was ready to attack again, exploding off the floor into the man and right back into another rush of close combat blows that ended with him on the floor _again_ ; the world blurry and swimming and the man – no, wait, that wasn’t – that was “tobirama?” the man – _Tobirama_ stared down at Madara in shock at his slurred whisper “tobirama” Madara repeated, sure this time that he was right. This was Tobirama and he was – he was – he was – _Madara’s,_ he was “mine” Tobirama’s eyes were warm and a bit amused even with clear strain lining his face “Yes my heart, heaven help me” the albino said.

Madara stared blurrily at his Tobirama while the light around his Tobirama cracked and fractured and broke and his Tobirama focused elsewhere even when Madara set his hands on his Tobirama’s legs and smoothed his hands up the strong thighs, his Tobirama was beautiful and strong and Madara was blissfully happy to lay here and watch his Tobirama do anything, anything at all. One of his Tobirama’s hands dropped to Madara’s cheek, absently caressing in the _best_ way even with his Tobirama clearly focusing on something else. Madara would rather his Tobirama think about him. But then again this was nice too. Hmm. This was good as long as he got to look at his To-

-a high-pitched whine sliced through thoughts and the shatterpoint-light around his Tobirama speared out in many-branched lightning (were his people aware enough to move away from the power? Madara hoped so) as the sound grew and grew, the dissonance making the roots of his teeth ache (What was Tobirama doing? How was he – _oh_ he was introducing a dissonant element to loop, like pouring boiling water in cold glass, there was no proper Geas for the summoning to consume and use to power the invocation but Tobirama’s unstable Geas was close enough for it to try. Close enough Tobirama’s broken Geas could get inside before the discordance got too great; clever, clever love, just be careful, don’t let it travel back along the link). The ringing in Madara’s ears receded enough to hear himself speaking (huh, he hadn’t realized he was doing that), repeating “mine, tobirama, darling, mine” in a contented mumble; his Tobirama smiled at him and there was a huge _snap_ , Madara felt the mosaic tiles under him shift as each and every tile rupturing (well, no one was going to use this again after this) and Tobirama slumped forward over him, terrifyingly limp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday SapphiraBlue!


	22. pact

Tobirama felt the moment when the summoning latched onto his Geas, trying to consume the power to finish the invocation (it couldn’t get enough power to finish the summoning for one of the dead, but it also couldn’t be stopped from trying – no matter what). Tobirama let the summoning circle latch onto his strength as the albino slammed his soulmate into the ground, relived when Madara seemed to be too dazed to get back up and just mumbled Tobirama’s name as if it was the only thing he wanted to ever do (gods, it was sweet). With Madara not fighting him Tobirama turned his attention to the summoning, feeling it drinking from his broken Geas and bracing for the backlash of what he was about to do; it took only the slightest of brushes against the lighting-broken shards of his power to set the entire thing convulsing – for once the volatility that had long been his curse working in his favor as the summoning shuddered and strained, trying to contain Tobirama’s inherently unbalanced power and eventually buckling, summoning and invocation both shattering unable to fulfill their purpose. The world around Tobirama seemed to telescope, tunnel vision contracting in his eyes and his heartbeat the only thing he could hear clearly; he swayed, spots dancing in his vision as he slumped slowly forward over his soulmate, the sound of the Uchiha’s heartbeat joining Tobirama’s in his ears – an echoing double beat as the world slipped into a gray haze.

_He was standing in a dark hall, frozen as his big brother talked to a goddess. Said “I know but I just…I have never understood where to stop, not me or my brothers, and I am afraid that someday I will stop seeing the trees while looking out for the good of the forest” didn't Hashirama think he was good enough? Moral enough? **Hashirama?** If Hashirama thought he needed to be restrained, that he wasn’t a good enough person, what did that make Tobirama? How often had his brother had to explain morals to Tobirama? How often had Hashirama looked at him like Tobirama was disappointing because Tobirama said something he shouldn’t have? If Hashirama wasn’t good enough what did that make Tobirama? Tobirama who was leading his soulmate on (wait, no, Hashirama didn’t know about Madara yet, that happened later)? Hashirama needed someone to hold him back and if Hashirama did then Tobirama must need it so much more badly. Right? He did want to be good enough for his soulmate even if they didn’t want him, he could prove them wrong, he **could** , he just needed to be better at being good (but – when was – this didn’t make sense, Madara was later, this was the beginning, the genesis). He didn’t know how to make himself a good person but if a goddess gave him a Taboo he would **have** to be a good person._

_He was standing in father’s study in the dim evening light (hadn’t it been early morning when he did this?) a large summoning circle humming in front of him, invocation calling out to – the memories skipped, Tobirama was standing in the middle of the room, circle behind him glowing as Tobirama stared at this big brother. Hashirama looked horrified, bleached and disappointed in the white diamond light “you can’t seriously be calling **her** ” he breathed “I know you think she will give you a more powerful Geas but-“ Tobirama frowned a bit “I don’t want a Geas” he said, not noticing the whine of the invocation get louder in his confusion “I just need a Taboo” Hashirama gaped. Tobirama didn’t get it, Hashirama should be glad – another skip, he had stepped back from his brother again, confused and defensive- he was trying to do the right thing!- as Hashirama yelled at him for summoning the goddess of retribution (Tobirama honestly hadn’t been looking for a Geas just a Taboo, the irony wasn’t lost on him). Tobirama tried to truncate the summoning, if that was what Hashirama wanted – soft female laughter behind him, goddess come to earth even as the invocation strained and cracked with Tobirama’s emotions as he tried to stop it. words that weren’t words she murmured to him, the invocation snapping and rooting itself in Tobirama and – and then he had a broken Geas, a tremendous power he had almost no control over, so strong just like Hashirama thought he was trying to get (that’s right, Hashirama never quiet trusted him after this) and most bitterly: no Taboo._

_‘retribution child, I give you retribution for your whole life’ the goddess laughed like winter winds ‘retribution for your Words’_

_That’s right, that’s how it was, an accident and Tobirama’s failure and a curse in shatterpoint-lightning._

* * *

Madara felt his throat burn and distantly realized he must have made some noise- a scream? A shout?- but couldn’t hear it as he scrabbled to sit and pulled his limp soulmate into his lap, shaking and terrified until he felt the slight puff of Tobirama’s breath against his cheek. He made another noise, something cracking as it was dragged out of his chest. Alive, _alive_ , just like Tobirama promised; weak maybe, fluttering and uncertain but _alive_. A roar next to his ear pulled Madara’s attention to the rest of the room, clutching Tobirama to him as tightly as he could and not hurt the albino as he looked around at where the Core had reengaged with the suddenly worried looking Shimura (they won then. They stopped the Family, and this circle was never going to be usable again. If everything had gone right the police chief Touka Senju had seized the Family and insured that the Shimura weren’t a problem anymore, they won and Madara couldn’t care – wouldn’t until Tobirama was awake and well again). The sharp report of a gun and roar of a Geas called to Madara’s own Geas as it flared brighter and brighter and _evolved_ with the agony of thinking he might have lost his Tobirama; the bullet melted in the air as it got close to Madara. He frowned at the trajectory, it would have hit his soulmate, it would have _killed_ his soulmate, that was…unacceptable. Completely unacceptable.

Madara’s eyes landed on the man that had taken the shot and he vaporized instantly, followed by the rest of the Shimura still engaged with the Core; all attacks turning to dust and ash as they hit the air around him and the dense contracting weight of his evolved Geas. They had tried to kill his soulmate, they had tried to take his soul away from him; mercy meant _nothing_ to him.

Hashirama was yelling something but couldn’t get closer without running the risk of Madara’s Geas eating him as well – even Madara didn’t know if his Geas would recognize that Hashirama was different from the others (he was willing to bet it wouldn’t, Hashirama had hurt Tobirama in the past and all Madara wanted, the _only_ thing Madara wanted was for Tobirama to not be in pain, to just not be in pain – even if only for a little while). Tobirama stirred, his lips moving against Madara’s neck and the Uchiha turned his attention to his soulmate, completely shutting out the rest of the world; Kikiyo had things well under hand anyway, she would handle clean up. In fact Izuna was probably talking to her right now, his silence in Madara’s ear was oddly telling; and probably better that way, Madara would have a hard time remembering that he had forgiven Izuna and loved his brother deeply even with everything right now – all he could think about was that Izuna that had kept his soulmate away from him. Tobirama’s lips moved again and Madara ducked closer to see if he could hear what Tobirama was saying “- _nothing to me, whatever_ -“ oh gods of flame _no._ Not that, anything but that. “Darling, pet wake up, I can’t lose you. I can’t lose you. I _can’t_ ” Madara begged into white hair; Tobirama went quiet for a long moment and then murmured “’dara” and fell silent, breathing slow and his heartbeat stronger. Madara closed his eyes, rocking back and forth a little as relief swamped him and blocked everything else out; he should have known that Tobirama would keep his word, it was _Tobirama_.


	23. retribution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> still dealing with the *waves hand* health shit so I'll try to go over this again later if its a mess

Tobirama drifted, the steady strength of Madara’s heart anchoring him to the world and out of the floating silence; for Madara he would stay, for Madara he would do almost anything. And Madara, it seemed, would do the same, he had hurt Tobirama and yet…he had never done so intentionally, had never done so as a rejection of Tobirama’s _self_ ; no Tobirama remembered now what that sort of rejection was like and even at his angriest and most cruel Madara had never looked at Tobirama as if he was a stranger – something fundamentally _other_ that either must be fixed or abandoned. It was enough to open a chink in Tobirama’s belief that he would never have a life with his soulmate, enough to realize that he would never deny Madara anything – how could that not include his faith in their relationship? If what Madara really wanted was Tobirama (it seemed it was – and Tobirama would never disrespect Madara by telling him Tobirama knew how he felt better than Madara did. Tobirama knew he had to respect Madara enough to respect even those things Tobirama was unable to understand), if he wanted Tobirama then…Tobirama he would get (and Tobirama never did anything halfway, it was all in or find another way, if this was what he was doing he had to do it right, had to do everything he could to make sure that what they had this time was better than they had managed before).

There was something about that thought, that certainty, (he loved Madara, he _respected_ Madara) that soothed Tobirama’s scars; it didn’t heal things and it didn’t make him suddenly believe that he was good enough for Madara, but it was a place to start. It was opening the book he thought would be forever closed (and even if it hurt and all his fears came true – well, Tobirama had chosen Madara and heartbreak once before and it had been worth it). Madara shifted and Tobirama felt it a little, pulling him back from the drift enough to notice – there was something…something _wrong_ , something… _no!_ It was then that Tobirama started struggling against the overwhelming exhaustion, he had to warn Madara, he _had_ to. Weakly he fought against the gray, his thoughts fracturing and sliding against each other as he clung to the thought; he had to tell Madara, he had to. _Had_ to.

* * *

Madara’s eye snapped open when Tobirama stirred, hoping that his soulmate was surfacing and seeing eyes only barely open as his lips moved; trying to force something out “-coming, they're coming, brothers, gold silver” he whispered. Madara’s eyes widened, how had he forgotten them? They knew the brothers were close, of _course_ they would get involved, he was just lucky that they hadn’t come with the main force (Madara was willing to bet Shimura had wanted them to, was willing to bet the brothers had showed up late just to spite the family head, Madara had always been grateful for their pride and now was no different). Madara wavered, torn between the need to never ever let Tobirama go again and the knowledge that the Gold and Silver brothers would need his full concentration; Tobirama tugged gently on his hair, eyes half lidded “Go, remember incentive” he murmured. Madara laughed roughly, pressing a hard kiss to his soulmate’s lips and carried him to the other side of the alter, relived to find a patch of semi-clear rubble to set Tobirama on, touching one red slashed cheek before standing and calling out “The Gold and Silver brothers will be here soon, get back and watch our backs, Hashirama, you’re with me.” Hashirama nodded, his face grave and together they moved to stand in front of the door as Mito slid past to guard Tobirama.

“Is he going to be ok?” Hashirama asked quietly while Madara called up the full power of his Geas again, “Yes – or I think so anyway. He’s exhausted and banged up, but he was those things before this mess started” Madara watched Hashirama out of the corner of his eyes as he spoke, looking for any hint of how the man was handling this. “So earlier, when I called him-“ Madara snarled and cut him off “How about you don’t mention that and I don’t break your nose right before a battle, yeah?” Hashirama winced and nodded looking ashamed – good, maybe Madara wouldn’t have to hit him too hard to get him to apologize. Madara sighed as he checked his weapons; gun was empty and had no more magazines so it was no good as anything but something to punch people with (Hashirama still refused to carry a gun, he was Geas and bare hand) so it would be his baton and Geas. He knew that the brothers had some immunity the Madara’s Geas when used passively which meant his best bet would be to get close enough that he could give them a concentrated blast with his eyes. That was…less than awesome, both brothers were huge and strong and brutal and Madara would rather have just killed him from a distance- he was sure that that was what Hashirama would do- but better to get this _over_ with.

Hashirama and Madara didn’t allow the brothers any time to monologue or brace, the Uchiha launched himself at the Gold brother the second he cleared the door, and he heard the rush of Hashirama’s active Geas snapping out at the Silver brother before his full attention was consumed by his opponent. It was easier than Madara remembered, he hadn’t realized how much his damaged Geas drained him physically and the evolution of his eyes had left them able to see _everything_ almost before Gold moved; it was like fighting with the bulky man in slow motion and Madara’s swirling redirecting fighting style kept him off balance. The only thing keeping it from being laughably easy was the man’s sheer physical resilience and ability to absorb ridiculous amounts of damage even with Madara beating him into the ground; his cocky words and boasts had long dried up when Madara kicked him into the floor so Madara didn’t expect it when he spoke croakily “Where’s your little plaything then? Already tired of him? he looks like he would be a frigid fu-“ Rage washed Madara’s world in red and somehow he ended up with his hand around the man’s throat, pinning him to the floor and forcing his head around to look Madara in the eyes. The Gold brother struggled and tried to close his eyes until Madara pried them open as tortuously as he could. The man looked, Madara met his gaze, the Geas blazed with the full force of Madara’s fury and chewed through every regeneration the Gold brother’s body and Taboo-broke Geas could throw at it; as Madara watched his Geas consumed the man from the tender insides out. It looked painful, Madara hoped it was. Gold disintegrated finally and Madara stood, looking around for Hashirama and pouncing the Silver brother and slamming him into a wall while he was distracted, pinning the man’s head to the wall and peeling his eyelids back to meet Madara’s Geas and his doom.


	24. promise

Strong gloved hands were on Tobirama’s cheeks and a forehead pressed to his, harsh panting breaths on his lips and soft hair brushing against his chest – Madara, safe. “love” he thought he might have said before everything was swallowed in oblivion. It felt like a long time before Tobirama surfaced again, comfortable in a bed that smelled like his soulmate “’dara?” he called reflexively, voice cracking and thin but enough as the Uchiha burst through the door, abandoning his low conversation to sit on the bed next to Tobirama, combing a hand through white hair. “To’ra,” he breathed “how do you feel darling?” Tobirama snorted softly at the Uchiha’s clear attempt not to look too frantic “’k, tired, love you” he managed to say before he was sinking again under the waves of unconsciousness, Madara’s response nothing more than a comforting rumble fallowing him into syrup-slow dreams, keeping them from the darkness that so often plagued his sleep.

“ _Darling, I can’t lose you”_

The second time Tobirama woke he was feeling much more focused if not less fatigued. Looking around showed a rich room and large bed that must be Madara’s, and a Madara in that bed next to him which was rather nice in Tobirama’s opinion; oh, his hair was so soft, Tobirama had forgotten exactly how soft Madara’s hair was (it had been a favorite pastime when they were together to play with Madara’s hair, maybe he could…could do that again) and it was wonderful between his fingers. Tobirama released his soulmate’s hair and traced the lines of Madara’s handsome face, wishing he could memorize the way the Uchiha looked in this moment for later when he was alone – wait. no, he was, if Madara heard him say that he would get that agonized look in his eyes and Tobirama couldn’t be the cause of that, he had to learn to think differently if he wanted to avoid hurting Madara more than he already had. Under his fingers the Uchiha stirred, mumbling sleepily “To’ra? Stay, lov’ you” in a slurred, sleep drunk voice and Tobirama felt a helpless smile pull at his lips and was overwhelmed by a sudden wave of fondness for this man; in all the memories of his soulmate Tobirama had treasured over the years he had somehow lost these moments when Madara was soft and silly and Tobirama just wanted to _poke_ him like a sleepy cat just to see his sluggish pout and soft features.

With a sighed Tobirama resisted the urge, contenting himself with just watching his soulmate and tracing his features and through his hair until his arm grew too heavy to continue and then contented himself with just drinking in the sight of Madara so close to him and all the tiny details that dreams never managed to recreate. The door opened with a whisper and Tobirama turned his head to look, sucking in a sharp breath as his eyes met Hashirama’s “You’re awake” Hashirama said, quiet enough not to wake the exhausted Madara (that was good, Tobirama didn’t have the energy to throw things and he’d have to if Hashirama woke Madara up). “How long?” Tobirama asked, the roughness of his voice startling his brother into action as he fetched water, holding it so Tobirama could drink and returning it to the side table before he spoke “A week, you missed the cleanup, most of the Shimura Family fought arrest and are dead from it and Mito has been put on sorting out what to do with the goddess’ death temple” “What about Zetsu, you and she had been trying to prosecute him for a long time.” Hashirama blinked at Tobirama’s words, face slack in surprise “Oh. you know that?” he said – sounding a bit like a stunned bird. “Yes Hashirama, you’re my brother, of course I kept tabs on you” Tobirama’s voice rasped through his last few words and Hashirama’s eyes welled with tears.

The older Senju brother looked down at his hands, breathing slowly, was he-? he was…trying to contain his emotions, for Madara’s sake probably, but still; he had never done that before, Mito must be a good influence. “I – you were just _gone_ Tobi, there wasn’t anything for me to keep tabs on” Hashirama forced out; Tobirama winced and sighed, trying to figure out what to say that wouldn’t hurt his brother more (he couldn’t say anything about their last fight, about why he left, about why he knew his brother wouldn’t want to know what Tobirama was doing) and words slipping out without his permission, “It seemed to me you rather disapprove of what I have done the last few years” he paused “self-serving and all” Hashirama flinched and wrung his hands. “I didn’t mean – I was…angry. That Madara was just” he waved a tired hand “taking up with someone he barely knew after so many years, it felt like he was forgetting you and I, well, I guess you know me; I have a problem with saying things I don’t think through” Tobirama sighed and turned his head to look at Madara again; Hashirama had always been like that and at least he seemed more aware of it now, which was something. Still, he couldn’t think what to say to Hashirama; he couldn’t find words for his brother, two years ago he would have had words tripping on themselves to be spoken but…not any more it seems.

* * *

Madara woke to soft voices and held carefully still when he recognized Hashirama and Tobirama speaking, his soulmate would have to have a conversation with his brother eventually, Madara was just as glad to have it happen with him present if ‘asleep’. Silence fell over the brothers and Madara could hear Hashirama’s heartache when he realized that his brother had come back but wasn’t the brother Hashirama remember – not that Hashirama had ever truly _had_ the brother he remembered, that man had never really existed beyond Tobirama’s hopeless attempts to be what he thought his brother wanted (the tragedy was that maybe if he hadn’t tried to make himself into something Hashirama approved of Hashirama probably would have learned to love his brother much better than he had). After another moment he heard Hashirama sigh and the bed shift as he stood and walked to the door; as Madara had told him Hashirama was going to have to reconcile with taking the slow way back into his brother’s circle, much less his trust (Madara hadn’t had the heart to tell Hashirama he wasn’t sure he would ever have Tobirama’s trust again, but then had he ever had it to begin with?). Hashirama was an impatient man and a romantic, he would have to let go of his dreams of a great emotional reunion and passionate proclamations of forgiveness and reconcile himself with slow painful work and Madara was sure it would be hard for the man; at least with Mito at his side he had a chance of doing it.

The door clicked shut and Tobirama’s fingers clumsily landed in his hair (of fuck, he had forgotten how _magical_ that felt) “Thank you for playing dead” the albino said softly, Madara snorted; he should have known that Tobirama would know he was awake. “You alright?” he asked as he shifted up to brace on his forearms looking down on his soulmate (and mourning the hand slipping out of his hair), Tobirama hummed, eyes thoughtful “I don’t know” he said slowly “it seems like – like it should be _more_. I guess I built it up over the years and I had so much to say to him, but then I come back and find that both of us have changed so much that there doesn’t seem any point. What I wanted to say was for the person my brother was five years ago, not this man I don’t know.” Madara frowned a bit and captured a hand to press to his lips, “Do you feel that way about me?” he asked; Tobirama smiled a small, sweet smile “No, or not that way, you’re different and – when I chose to let myself love you back then I didn’t just love you as a twenty something. I love you for the person you were in the past and the person you were in that present and I knew I would fall in love again with the person you became because it would be another Madara. And how could I not love any version of you?”

Madara stared at him, mouth open in shock and eyes prickling when he shifted closer to lightly drop his head on his soulmate’s chest “To’ra – I wish, all these years and I though about how I would take care of you and bring you back home and keep you warm and feed you your favorite foods and – but I never thought about what I would _say_ and now I don’t know how to give you the reassurance you give me!” Tobirama huffed a laugh, his hand in Madara’s hair again and voice wry when he spoke “I’m not sure words are what I need from you ‘dara, not with my Words, but I would rather, I would rather like to be taken care of if that’s still what you want” his voice had gotten small and uncertain and Madara pushed himself up with delight like champagne in his heart. “ _Please_ , please let me take care of you. Gods, that would be _wonderful_ ” he breathed. Tobirama pinked a little in a mesmerizing way, shyness sitting better on him than Madara would have guessed, “I think that it will be easier for me to trust that, after everything” he respond, voice once again dragging with exhaustion as Madara was filled with a heady hope he hadn’t felt since he felt his Geas strain almost to breaking and thought his soulmate lost to him. Madara leaned forward and kissed Tobirama, slow and sweet with Tobirama's fatigue “Sleep darling, I’ll be near when you wake” he said; Tobirama smiled as he drifted off under Madara’s adoring gaze, once again back where he belonged if Madara had any say about it.


End file.
